CN116567552A

CN116567552A - Method and device for group communication

Info

Publication number: CN116567552A
Application number: CN202210108136.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 宗在峰; 姚琦
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2022-01-28
Filing date: 2022-01-28
Publication date: 2023-08-08
Also published as: WO2023143448A1

Abstract

The application provides a method and a device for group communication. The method may include: the first session management network element receives the identification information of the second session management network element from the group management network element, and then the first session management network element sends a request message #1 to the second session management network element according to the identification information of the second session management network element. Further, the first session management network element receives a response message #1 from the second session management network element, where the response message includes tunnel information of the second user plane network element and identification information of the second terminal device. The first session management network element configures a first forwarding rule at the first user plane network element for sending a data packet with a destination address directed to the second terminal device to the second user plane network element. By the scheme, communication among group members served by different session management network elements in the same group can be established.

Description

Method and device for group communication

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a method and an apparatus for group communication.

Background

The fifth generation (5th generation,5G) virtual network (5G virtual network,5G VN) (also referred to as 5G local area network (local area network,5G LAN) service is a service provided by the current 5G network, and is mainly applied to the fields of home communications, enterprise offices, factory manufacturing, car networking, and power grid modification, etc., the service is capable of providing private communications of Internet Protocol (IP) type or non-IP type (e.g., ethernet type) for two or more terminal devices in a group.

When a 5G VN spans a large area, or different group members access the 5G VN at different locations, multiple SMFs may be involved for the 5G VN group due to the limited service area of the SMFs. When one 5GVN group is served by a different SMF, how to establish communication between the 5G VN group members managed by the different SMF is a problem that currently needs to be considered.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a method and a device for group communication, which can establish communication among group members served by different session management network elements in the same group.

In a first aspect, there is provided a method of group communication, the method comprising: the first session management network element receives identification information of a second session management network element from the group management network element; wherein the first session management network element and the second session management network element respectively provide services for sessions of different terminal devices belonging to the same group; the first session management network element sends a request message #1 to the second session management network element according to the identification information of the second session management network element, wherein the request message #1 comprises the identification information of the group, the tunnel information of the first user plane network element and the identification information of the first terminal equipment; wherein the first session management network element and the first user plane network element are network elements providing services for the session of the first terminal device, and the first terminal device belongs to the group; the first session management network element receives a response message #1 from the second session management network element, wherein the response message #1 comprises tunnel information of the second user plane network element and identification information of the second terminal equipment; wherein the second session management network element and the second user plane network element are network elements providing services for the session of the second terminal device, and the second terminal device also belongs to the group; the first session management network element configures a first forwarding rule at the first user plane network element according to the tunnel information of the second user plane network element and the identification information of the second terminal device, and the first forwarding rule is used for sending a data packet with a destination address pointing to the second terminal device to the second user plane network element.

Based on the above scheme, communication between terminal devices (i.e., a first terminal device and a second terminal device) served by different session management network elements in the same group can be established. Specifically, the first session management network element may obtain the identification information of the second session management network element from the group management network element, and then send a request message to the second session management network element according to the identification information of the second session management network element, so as to establish a tunnel between the first user plane network element and the user plane network element managed by the second session management network element (i.e., the second user plane network element). Then, the first session management network element configures a first forwarding rule to the first user plane network element, so that a data forwarding path between the first terminal device and the second terminal device can be established, and communication between the first terminal device and the second terminal device is realized.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementation manners of the first aspect, the receiving, by the first session management network element, identification information of the second session management network element from the group management network element includes: the first session management network element receives a notification message from the group management network element, the notification message comprising identification information of the second session management network element and identification information of the group.

Based on the above scheme, the first session management network element may receive the identification information of the second session management network element from the notification message of the group management network element.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: the first session management network element sends a subscription message #1 to the group management network element, wherein the subscription message #1 includes identification information of the group, and the subscription message #1 is used for subscribing to change notification of group information of the group.

Based on the above scheme, the first session management network element may subscribe to the group management network element for the change notification of the group information through the subscription message # 1. The change notification of the group information may include a change notification of a session management network element corresponding to the group; the change notification of the group information may also be used to notify the session management network element of the existing service group to the session management network element of the newly joined service group. Through the subscription message #1, when the group information changes, for example, when the second session management network element registers into the group, the group management network element may send the identification information of the second session management network element to the first session management network element through the notification message.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementation manners of the first aspect, the receiving, by the first session management network element, identification information of the second session management network element from the group management network element includes: the first session management network element sends a request message #2 for searching for the session management network element serving the group to the group management network element, wherein the request message #2 comprises identification information of the group; the first session management network element receives a response message #2 from the group management network element, the response message #2 comprising identification information of the second session management network element.

Based on the above-mentioned scheme, the first session management network element may send a request message #2 to the group management network element to find a session management network element serving the group, so as to establish a session between the first session management network element and the session management network element of the other service group.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementation manners of the first aspect, the receiving, by the first session management network element, identification information of the second session management network element from the group management network element includes: the first session management network element sends a request message #3 for searching for a session management network element serving a second terminal device in the group to the group management network element, wherein the request message #3 comprises identification information of the group and identification information of the second terminal device; the first session management network element receives a response message #3 from the group management network element, the response message #3 comprising identification information of the second session management network element.

Based on the above-mentioned scheme, the first session management network element may send a request message #3 to the group management network element to find a session management network element serving the second terminal device in the group (i.e. the second session management network element) in order to establish a session between the first session management network element and the second session management network element.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementation manners of the first aspect, the response message #1 further includes a session identifier of the second session management network element; the session identifier of the second session management network element is used to identify a context associated with the first session management network element on the second session management network element for the group; the method further comprises the steps of: the first session management network element receives a session establishment request message for the group from a third terminal device; wherein the third terminal device belongs to the group; responding to the session establishment request message, the first session management network element allocates a third user plane network element for the session of the third terminal equipment; the first session management network element sends an update message #1 to the second session management network element according to the session identifier of the second session management network element, wherein the update message #1 includes the session identifier of the second session management network element, the tunnel information of the third user plane network element and the identifier information of the third terminal device.

Based on the above scheme, the second session management network element may further carry the session identifier of the second session management network element in the response message #1, so that when the terminal device or the user plane network element managed by the first session management network element changes, the first session management network element may send an update message #1 to the second session management network element according to the session identifier of the second session management network element, where the session identifier of the second session management network element is used to identify which session is processed by the second session management network element.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes the first session management network element creating a session context for the group associated with the second session management network element on the first session management network element.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: the first session management network element stores the session identifier of the second session management network element and the identifier information of the group.

Based on the above scheme, after the topology information of the group member is updated, for example, after the group member or the user plane network element corresponding to the first session management network element changes, the first session management network element may send an update message to the second session management network element according to the stored session identifier of the second session management network element and the group identifier information.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: the first session management network element receives an update message #2 from the second session management network element, wherein the update message #2 comprises tunnel information of a fourth user plane network element and identification information of fourth terminal equipment; wherein the second session management network element and the fourth user plane network element are network elements providing services for the session of the fourth terminal device, and the fourth terminal device belongs to the group; the first session management network element configures a second forwarding rule at the first user plane network element according to the tunnel information of the fourth user plane network element and the identification information of the fourth terminal device, and the second forwarding rule is used for sending a data packet with a destination address pointing to the fourth terminal device to the fourth user plane network element.

Based on the above scheme, the first session management network element may configure the second forwarding rule to the first user plane network element according to the information carried in the update message #2 from the second session management network element, so that after the fourth terminal device in the group establishes a session through the fourth user plane network element and the second session management network element, a data forwarding path between the first terminal device and the fourth terminal device may be timely established.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementation manners of the first aspect, before the first session management network element sends the request message #1 to the second session management network element, the method further includes: the first session management network element determines that there is no context for the group associated with the second session management network element on the first session management network element.

Based on the above-mentioned scheme, the first session management network element may send a request message to the second session management network element to prevent session collision, in case it is determined that there is no context (or session) for the group between the first session management network element and the second session management network element.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: the first session management network element distributes the session identifier of the first session management network element for the group, and the session identifier of the first session management network element is used for identifying the context associated with the second session management network element on the first session management network element and aiming at the group; wherein the request message #1 further includes a session identifier of the first session management network element.

Based on the above-mentioned scheme, in the case that a group-directed session exists between the first session management network element and the second session management network element, the first session management network element may reject the request message #3 of the second session management network element to prevent session collision.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: the first session management network element sends a registration request message to the group management network element, the registration request message including identification information of the group and identification information of the first session management network element.

In a second aspect, there is provided a method of group communication, the method comprising: the group management network element receives a registration request message from a second session management network element, wherein the registration request message comprises identification information of a group and identification information of the second session management network element; the group management network element sends the identification information of the second session management network element to the first session management network element, and the first session management network element and the second session management network element respectively provide services for the sessions of different terminal devices belonging to the group.

Based on the above scheme, after receiving the registration request message from the second session management network element, the group management network element may send the identification information of the second session management network element to the first session management network element, so that a session may be established between the first session management network element and the second session management network element, so that the group members under the first session management network element and the second session management network element may implement communication.

With reference to the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: the group management network element receives a subscription message #1 from the first session management network element, wherein the subscription message #1 comprises an identifier of the group, and the subscription message #1 is used for subscribing to a change notification of group information of the group; the group management network element sending identification information of the second session management network element to the first session management network element, comprising: the group management network element sends a notification message to the first session management network element based on the subscription message #1, the notification message including identification information of the second session management network element.

Based on the above scheme, the group management network element may send the identification information of the second session management network element to the first session management network element based on the subscription message of the first session management network element.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the sending, by the group management network element, identification information of the second session management network element to the first session management network element includes: the group management network element receives a request message #2 from the first session management network element for searching for a session management network element serving the group, wherein the request message #2 comprises identification information of the group; the group management network element determines the identification information of the second session management network element according to the identification information of the group; the group management network element sends a response message #2 to the first session management network element, the response message #2 comprising identification information of the second session management network element.

Based on the above scheme, the group management network element may send, to the first session management network element, identification information of the session management network element serving the group according to the request message of the first session management network element, where the identification information of the second session management network element may be included.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the sending, by the group management network element, identification information of the second session management network element to the first session management network element includes: the group management network element receives a request message #3 from the first session management network element for searching for a session management network element serving a second terminal device in the group, wherein the request message #3 comprises identification information of the group and identification information of the second terminal device; the group management network element determines the identification information of the second session management network element according to the identification information of the group and the identification information of the second terminal equipment; the group management network element sends a response message #3 to the first session management network element, the response message #3 comprising identification information of the second session management network element.

Based on the above scheme, the group management network element may send, to the first session management network element, identification information of the session management network element serving the second terminal device in the group according to the request message of the first session management network element.

With reference to the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: the group management network element stores the association relationship between the identification information of the second session management network element and the identification information of the group.

In a third aspect, there is provided a method of group communication, the method comprising: the second session management network element receives a request message #1 from the first session management network element, wherein the request message #1 comprises identification information of a group, tunnel information of the first user plane network element and identification information of first terminal equipment; wherein the first session management network element and the first user plane network element are network elements providing services for the session of the first terminal device, and the first terminal device belongs to the group; the second session management network element allocates a session identifier of the second session management network element according to the request message #1, where the session identifier of the second session management network element is used to identify a context associated with the first session management network element on the second session management network element and directed to the group; the second session management network element sends a response message #1 to the first session management network element, wherein the response message #1 comprises tunnel information of a second user plane network element, identification information of a second terminal device and session identification of the second session management network element; wherein the second session management network element and the second user plane network element are network elements providing services for the session of the second terminal device, and the second terminal device also belongs to the group; the second session management network element configures a third forwarding rule in the second user plane network element according to the tunnel information of the first user plane network element and the identification information of the first terminal device, and the third forwarding rule is used for sending a data packet with a destination address pointing to the first terminal device to the first user plane network element.

It should be understood that the present application does not limit the order in which the second session management network element sends the response message #1 and the actions configuring the forwarding rule # 3.

Based on the above scheme, communication between terminal devices (i.e., a first terminal device and a second terminal device) served by different session management network elements in the same group can be established. Specifically, the second session management network element may acquire tunnel information of the first user plane network element and identification information of the first terminal device from the first session management network element, and then the second session management network element may send the tunnel information of the second user plane network element and the identification information of the second terminal device to the first user plane network element, and configure a third forwarding rule for the second user plane network element, so that a data forwarding path between the first terminal device and the second terminal device may be established, so as to implement communication between the first terminal device and the second terminal device.

With reference to the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the request message #1 further includes a session identifier of a first session management network element, where the session identifier of the first session management network element is used to identify a context for the group associated with the second session management network element on the first session management network element, and the method further includes: the second session management network element stores the session identifier and the group identifier of the first session management network element, the tunnel information of the first user plane network element, and the identifier of the first terminal device in the context associated with the first session management network element and specific to the group.

Based on the above scheme, the second user plane network element may save the identification information of the first user plane network element and the identification information of the group to a context with the first session management network element, and the context is indicated by the session identification of the second session management network element. Based on this, after the topology information of the group is updated, the second session management network element may update the data forwarding paths between the group members based on the session identification.

With reference to the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the method further includes: the second session management network element receives an update message #1 from the first session management network element, wherein the update message #1 comprises a session identifier of the second session management network element, tunnel information of a third user plane network element and identifier information of a third terminal device; wherein the first session management network element and the third user plane network element are network elements providing services for the session of the third terminal device, and the third terminal device belongs to the group; the second session management network element configures a fourth forwarding rule at the second user plane network element according to the session identifier of the second session management network element, the tunnel information of the third user plane network element and the identifier information of the third terminal device, where the fourth forwarding rule is used to send a data packet with a destination address pointing to the third terminal device to the third user plane network element.

Based on the above scheme, after the second session management network element receives the update message #1 from the first session management network element, it may be determined that the third terminal device accesses the group through the first session management network element, so the second session management network element may configure a fourth forwarding rule for the second user plane network element, so as to establish a data forwarding path between the third terminal device and the second terminal device, and implement communications between the third terminal device and the second terminal device. Therefore, based on the scheme, after the group topology information is updated, the data forwarding paths among the group members can be updated or established in time, so that the communication among the group members is realized.

With reference to the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the method further includes: the second session management network element adds the tunnel information of the third user plane network element and the identification information of the third terminal device to the context associated with the first session management network element and directed to the group according to the session identification of the second session management network element.

With reference to the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the method further includes: the second session management network element receives a session establishment request message for the group from the fourth terminal device; wherein the fourth terminal device belongs to the group; responding to the session establishment request message, the second session management network element distributes a fourth user plane network element for the session of the fourth terminal equipment; the second session management network element obtains the session identifier of the first session management network element according to the identification information of the group in the context associated with the first session management network element for the group; the second session management network element sends an update message #2 to the first session management network element according to the session identifier of the first session management network element, where the update message #2 includes tunnel information of the fourth user plane network element, identifier information of the fourth terminal device, and the session identifier of the first session management network element.

Based on the above scheme, after the topology information of the group members is updated, for example, after the group members or the user plane network elements corresponding to the second session management network element change, the second session management network element may send an update message to the first session management network element according to the context information, and the data forwarding paths between the group members are updated or established. For example, the second session management network element allocates a fourth user plane network element to the session based on the received session establishment request of the fourth terminal device. Based on the above, the second session management network element obtains the identification information of the first session management network element according to the context associated with the first session management network element on the second session management network element and aiming at the group, and sends the update message #2 to the first session management network element according to the identification information of the first session management network element so as to establish a data forwarding path between the first terminal device and the fourth terminal device, thereby realizing communication between the first terminal device and the fourth terminal device.

In a fourth aspect, a communication system is provided, the communication system including a first session management network element, a second session management network element, and a group management network element, the group management network element configured to send identification information of the second session management network element to the first session management network element; wherein the first session management network element and the second session management network element respectively provide services for sessions of different terminal devices belonging to the same group; the first session management network element is configured to receive identification information of the second session management network element from the group management network element; according to the identification information of the second session management network element, a request message #1 is sent to the second session management network element, wherein the request message #1 comprises the identification information of the group, the tunnel information of the first user plane network element and the identification information of the first terminal equipment; wherein the first session management network element and the first user plane network element are network elements providing services for the session of the first terminal device, and the first terminal device belongs to the group; the second session management network element is configured to receive the request message #1 from the first session management network element; transmitting a response message #1 to the first session management network element, wherein the response message #1 comprises tunnel information of the second user plane network element and identification information of the second terminal equipment; wherein the second session management network element and the second user plane network element are network elements providing services for the session of the second terminal device, and the second terminal device also belongs to the group; configuring a third forwarding rule at the second user plane network element according to the tunnel information of the first user plane network element and the identification information of the first terminal device, wherein the third forwarding rule is used for sending a data packet with a destination address pointing to the first terminal device to the first user plane network element; the first session management network element is further configured to receive the response message #1 from the second session management network element; and configuring a first forwarding rule in the first user plane network element according to the tunnel information of the second user plane network element and the identification information of the second terminal equipment, wherein the first forwarding rule is used for sending a data packet with a destination address pointing to the second terminal equipment to the second user plane network element.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the second session management network element is further configured to allocate a session identifier of the second session management network element, where the session identifier of the second session management network element is used to identify a context for the group associated with the first session management network element on the second session management network element, and the response message #1 includes the session identifier of the second session management network element.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the first session management network element is further configured to receive a session establishment request message for the group from the third terminal device; wherein the third terminal device belongs to the group; responding to the session establishment request message, and distributing a third user plane network element for the session of the third terminal equipment; according to the session identification of the second session management network element, an update message #1 is sent to the second session management network element, wherein the update message #1 comprises the session identification of the second session management network element, the tunnel information of the third user plane network element and the identification information of the third terminal device; the second session management network element is further configured to receive an update message #1 from the first session management network element; and according to the session identifier of the second session management network element, the tunnel information of the third user plane network element and the identifier information of the third terminal equipment, configuring a fourth forwarding rule on the second user plane network element, wherein the fourth forwarding rule is used for sending a data packet with a destination address pointing to the third terminal equipment to the third user plane network element.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the first session management network element is further configured to determine that there is no context associated with the second session management network element for the group on the first session management network element.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the second session management network element is further configured to send a request message #3 to the first session management network element, where the request message #3 includes identification information of the group; the first session management network element is further configured to receive the request message #3 from the second session management network element; after determining that a session for the group exists between the first session management network element and the second session management network element, the request message #3 is rejected.

In a fifth aspect, there is provided an apparatus for group communication, the apparatus comprising: a receiving and transmitting unit, configured to receive identification information of a second session management network element from the group management network element; wherein the device and the second session management network element provide services for sessions of different terminal devices belonging to the same group respectively; the processing unit is used for sending a request message #1 to the second session management network element through the receiving and transmitting unit according to the identification information of the second session management network element, wherein the request message #1 comprises the identification information of the group, the tunnel information of the first user plane network element and the identification information of the first terminal equipment; wherein the first session management network element and the first user plane network element are network elements providing services for the session of the first terminal device, and the first terminal device belongs to the group; the transceiver unit is further configured to receive a response message #1 from the second session management network element, where the response message #1 includes tunnel information of the second user plane network element and identification information of the second terminal device; wherein the second session management network element and the second user plane network element are network elements providing services for the session of the second terminal device, and the second terminal device also belongs to the group; the processing unit is further configured to configure a first forwarding rule at the first user plane network element according to the tunnel information of the second user plane network element and the identification information of the second terminal device, where the first forwarding rule is used to send a data packet with a destination address pointing to the second terminal device to the second user plane network element.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in certain implementation manners of the fifth aspect, the transceiver unit is specifically configured to receive a notification message from the group management network element, where the notification message includes identification information of the second session management network element and identification information of the group.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in some implementations of the fifth aspect, the transceiver unit is further configured to send a subscription message #1 to the group management network element, where the subscription message #1 includes identification information of the group, and the subscription message #1 is used for subscribing to a change notification of group information of the group.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in certain implementation manners of the fifth aspect, the transceiver unit is specifically configured to send a request message #2 to the group management network element for searching for a session management network element serving the group, where the request message #2 includes identification information of the group; a response message #2 from the group management network element is received, the response message #2 comprising identification information of the second session management network element.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in some implementations of the fifth aspect, the transceiver unit is specifically configured to send, to the group management network element, a request message #3 for searching for a session management network element serving a second terminal device in the group, where the request message #3 includes identification information of the group and identification information of the second terminal device; a response message #3 from the group management network element is received, the response message #3 comprising identification information of the second session management network element.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, the response message #1 further includes a session identifier of the second session management network element, where the session identifier of the second session management network element is used to identify a context for the group associated with the first session management network element on the second session management network element; the receiving and transmitting unit is further configured to receive a session establishment request message for the group from a third terminal device; wherein the third terminal device belongs to the group; responding to the session establishment request message, the first session management network element allocates a third user plane network element for the session of the third terminal equipment; the processing unit is further configured to send an update message #1 to the second session management network element according to the session identifier of the second session management network element, where the update message #1 includes the session identifier of the second session management network element, the tunnel information of the third user plane network element, and the identifier information of the third terminal device.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, the apparatus further includes: the first session management network element receives an update message #2 from the second session management network element, wherein the update message #2 comprises tunnel information of a fourth user plane network element and identification information of fourth terminal equipment; wherein the second session management network element and the fourth user plane network element are network elements providing services for the session of the fourth terminal device, and the fourth terminal device belongs to the group; the first session management network element configures a second forwarding rule at the first user plane network element according to the tunnel information of the fourth user plane network element and the identification information of the fourth terminal device, and the second forwarding rule is used for sending a data packet with a destination address pointing to the fourth terminal device to the fourth user plane network element.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, the processing unit is further configured to determine that a context associated with the second session management network element for the group does not exist on the first session management network element.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in certain implementation manners of the fifth aspect, the transceiver unit is further configured to receive a request message #3 from the second session management network element, where the request message #3 includes identification information of the group; the processing unit is further configured to reject the request message #3 after determining that a session for the group exists between the first session management network element and the second session management network element.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in certain implementation manners of the fifth aspect, the processing unit is further configured to send a registration request message to the group management network element, where the registration request message includes identification information of the group and identification information of the first session management network element.

In a sixth aspect, there is provided an apparatus for group communication, the apparatus comprising: a transceiver unit, configured to receive a registration request message from a second session management network element, where the registration request message includes identification information of a group and identification information of the second session management network element; and sending the identification information of the second session management network element to the first session management network element, wherein the first session management network element and the second session management network element respectively provide services for the sessions of different terminal equipment belonging to the group.

With reference to the sixth aspect, in some implementations of the sixth aspect, the transceiver unit is further configured to receive a subscription message #1 from the first session management network element, where the subscription message #1 includes an identifier of the group, and the subscription message #1 is used for subscribing to a change notification of group information of the group; the transceiving unit is specifically configured to send a notification message to the first session management network element based on the subscription message #1, where the notification message includes identification information of the second session management network element.

With reference to the sixth aspect, in some implementations of the sixth aspect, the transceiver unit is specifically configured to receive a request message #2 from the first session management network element for searching for a session management network element serving the group, where the request message #2 includes identification information of the group; the processing unit is specifically configured to determine identification information of the second session management network element according to the identification information of the group; the transceiver unit is specifically further configured to send a response message #2 to the first session management network element, where the response message #2 includes identification information of the second session management network element.

With reference to the sixth aspect, in some implementations of the sixth aspect, the transceiver unit is specifically configured to receive a request message #3 from the first session management network element for searching for a session management network element serving a second terminal device in the group, where the request message #3 includes identification information of the group and identification information of the second terminal device; the processing unit is specifically configured to determine identification information of the second session management network element according to the identification information of the group and the identification information of the second terminal device; the transceiver unit is specifically further configured to send a response message #3 to the first session management network element, where the response message #3 includes identification information of the second session management network element.

With reference to the sixth aspect, in some implementations of the sixth aspect, the processing unit is further configured to save an association between the identification information of the second session management network element and the identification information of the group.

In a seventh aspect, there is provided an apparatus for group communication, the apparatus comprising: a transceiver unit, configured to receive a request message #1 from a first session management network element, where the request message #1 includes identification information of a group, tunnel information of a first user plane network element, and identification information of a first terminal device; wherein the first session management network element is a network element providing services for the session of the first terminal device, and the first terminal device belongs to the group; a processing unit, configured to allocate, according to the request message #1, a session identifier of the second session management network element, where the session identifier of the second session management network element is used to identify a context associated with the first session management network element on the second session management network element and directed to the group; the transceiver unit is further configured to send a response message #1 to the first session management network element, where the response message #1 includes tunnel information of the second user plane network element, identification information of the second terminal device, and a session identifier of the second session management network element; wherein the second session management network element and the second user plane network element are network elements providing services for the session of the second terminal device, and the second terminal device also belongs to the group; the processing unit is further configured to configure a third forwarding rule at the second user plane network element according to the tunnel information of the first user plane network element and the identification information of the first terminal device, where the third forwarding rule is used to send a data packet with a destination address pointing to the first terminal device to the first user plane network element.

With reference to the seventh aspect, in certain implementations of the seventh aspect, the processing unit is further configured to store the identification information of the first session management network element and the identification information of the group in the context associated with the first session management network element for the group.

With reference to the seventh aspect, in some implementations of the seventh aspect, the transceiver unit is further configured to receive an update message #1 from the first session management network element, where the update message #1 includes a session identifier of the second session management network element, tunnel information of a third user plane network element, and identifier information of a third terminal device; wherein the first session management network element and the third user plane network element are network elements providing services for the session of the third terminal device, and the third terminal device belongs to the group; the processing unit is further configured to configure a fourth forwarding rule at the second user plane network element according to the session identifier of the second session management network element, the tunnel information of the third user plane network element, and the identifier information of the third terminal device, where the fourth forwarding rule is used to send a data packet with a destination address pointing to the third terminal device to the third user plane network element.

With reference to the seventh aspect, in some implementations of the seventh aspect, the transceiver unit is further configured to receive a session establishment request message for the group from the fourth terminal device; wherein the fourth terminal device belongs to the group; the processing unit is further configured to allocate a fourth user plane network element to the session of the fourth terminal device in response to the session establishment request message; the second session management network element obtains the session identifier of the first session management network element according to the identifier information of the group in the context of the group associated with the first session management network element; and according to the session identifier of the first session management network element, sending an update message #2 to the first session management network element, wherein the update message #2 comprises the tunnel information of the fourth user plane network element and the session identifier of the fourth terminal device.

In an eighth aspect, an apparatus for group communication is provided, where the apparatus may be a first session management network element, and may also be a chip in the first session management network element. The apparatus has the function of implementing any implementation method of the first aspect. The functions can be realized by hardware, and can also be realized by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the functions described above.

In a ninth aspect, an apparatus for group communication is provided, where the apparatus may be a group management network element, and may also be a chip in the group management network element. The apparatus has the function of implementing any implementation method of the second aspect. The functions can be realized by hardware, and can also be realized by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the functions described above.

In a tenth aspect, an apparatus for group communication is provided, which may be a second session management network element, and may also be a chip in the second session management network element. The apparatus has a function of implementing any implementation method of the third aspect. The functions can be realized by hardware, and can also be realized by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the functions described above.

In an eleventh aspect, there is provided an apparatus for group communication, the apparatus for group communication comprising a processor configured to implement the functionality of the first session management network element in the method described in the first aspect, or the functionality of the second session management network element in the method described in the second aspect, or the functionality of the group management network element described in the third aspect.

In a possible implementation manner, the group communication device may further include a memory, where the memory is coupled to the processor, and the processor is configured to implement a function of the first session management network element in the method described in the first aspect or a function of the second session management network element in the method described in the second aspect or a function of the group management network element described in the third aspect.

In one possible implementation, the memory is used to store program instructions and data. The memory is coupled to the processor, and the processor may invoke and execute program instructions stored in the memory for implementing the functionality of the first session management network element in the method described in the first aspect or the functionality of the second session management network element in the method described in the second aspect or the functionality of the group management network element described in the third aspect.

In one possible implementation, the means for group communication may further comprise a communication interface for the means for acquiring data to communicate with other devices. The communication interface may be a transceiver, an input/output interface, or circuitry, etc.

In one possible design, the means for acquiring data includes: a processor and a communication interface, the processor for running a computer program to cause the group communication device to implement any of the methods described in the first to third aspects above; the processor communicates with the outside using the communication interface. It will be appreciated that the external portion may be an object other than the processor or an object other than the device.

In another possible design, the device for acquiring data is a chip or a system-on-chip. The communication interface may be an input/output interface, interface circuitry, output circuitry, input circuitry, pins or related circuitry, etc. on the chip or system-on-chip. The processor may also be embodied as processing circuitry or logic circuitry.

In a twelfth aspect, the present application provides a computer readable storage medium having instructions stored therein which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the methods of the above aspects.

In a thirteenth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product comprising instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of the above aspects.

In a fourteenth aspect, a communication system is provided, which includes the first session management network element shown in the first aspect, the second session management network element shown in the second aspect, and the group management network element shown in the third aspect.

In a fifteenth aspect, there is provided a chip or chip system comprising at least one processor and a communication interface, the communication interface and the at least one processor being interconnected by wires, the at least one processor being for running a computer program or instructions to perform a method according to any one of the possible implementations of the first to third aspects. The communication interface in the chip can be an input/output interface, a pin, a circuit or the like.

In one possible implementation, the chip or chip system described above in the present application further includes at least one memory, where the at least one memory has instructions stored therein. The memory may be a memory unit within the chip, such as a register, a cache, etc., or may be a memory unit of the chip (e.g., a read-only memory, a random access memory, etc.).

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system provided herein;

fig. 2 (a) and (b) show schematic architecture diagrams of a 5G system to which the embodiments of the present application are applicable;

fig. 3 shows a schematic diagram of a user plane architecture of a 5G VN service;

FIG. 4 is a schematic flow chart of a method of group communication provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a schematic flow chart diagram of another method of group communication provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a communication architecture according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of another communication architecture provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of yet another communication architecture provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of yet another communication architecture provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 10 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided in accordance with an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 11 is another schematic block diagram of a communication device provided in accordance with an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

For the purpose of making the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present application more apparent, the present application will be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The specific method of operation in the method embodiment may also be applied to the device embodiment or the system embodiment. In the description of the present application, unless otherwise indicated, the meaning of "a plurality" is two or more.

In the various embodiments of the application, if there is no specific description or logical conflict, terms and/or descriptions between the various embodiments are consistent and may reference each other, and features of the various embodiments may be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationships.

It will be appreciated that the various numerical numbers referred to in this application are merely descriptive convenience and are not intended to limit the scope of this application. The sequence number of each process does not mean the sequence of the execution sequence, and the execution sequence of each process should be determined according to the function and the internal logic.

The terms "first," "second," "third," "fourth," and other various terms used in the description and claims of the present application and in the above-described figures, etc. (e.g., #1, #2, #3, #4, etc.) are used for distinguishing between similar objects and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order. It is to be understood that the data so used may be interchanged where appropriate such that the embodiments described herein may be implemented in other sequences than those illustrated or otherwise described herein. Furthermore, the terms "comprises," "comprising," and "having," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, system, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of steps or elements is not necessarily limited to those steps or elements expressly listed but may include other steps or elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

The technical scheme provided by the application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: fifth generation (5th generation,5G) or New Radio (NR) systems, long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE) systems, LTE frequency division duplex (frequency division duplex, FDD) systems, LTE time division duplex (time division duplex, TDD) systems, and the like. The technical scheme provided by the application can also be applied to future communication systems, such as a sixth generation mobile communication system. The technical solutions provided herein may also be applied to device-to-device (D2D) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-to-machine (machine to machine, M2M) communication, machine type communication (machine type communication, MTC), and internet of things (internet of things, ioT) communication systems or other communication systems.

To solve the problems mentioned in the background, as shown in fig. 1, the present application provides a communication system 100, where the system 100 includes a first session management network element 110 and a second session management network element 120. Optionally, the communication system may further comprise a group management network element 130.

The first session management network element 110 is configured to receive identification information of the second session management network element 120 from the group management network element 130; according to the identification information of the second session management network element 120, a request message #1 is sent to the second session management network element 120, where the request message #1 includes the identification information of the group, the tunnel information of the first user plane network element, and the identification information of the first terminal device; wherein the first session management network element 110 and the first user plane network element are network elements for providing services for the session of the first terminal device, and the first terminal device belongs to the group;

the second session management network element 120 is configured to receive the request message #1 from the first session management network element 110; transmitting a response message #1 to the first session management network element 110, wherein the response message #1 includes tunnel information of the second user plane network element and identification information of the second terminal device; wherein the second session management network element 120 and the second user plane network element are network elements for providing services for the session of the second terminal device, and the second terminal device also belongs to the group; configuring a third forwarding rule at the second user plane network element according to the tunnel information of the first user plane network element and the identification information of the first terminal device, wherein the third forwarding rule is used for sending a data packet with a destination address pointing to the first terminal device to the first user plane network element;

The first session management network element 110 is further configured to receive the response message #1 from the second session management network element 120; and configuring a first forwarding rule in the first user plane network element according to the tunnel information of the second user plane network element and the identification information of the second terminal equipment, wherein the first forwarding rule is used for sending a data packet with a destination address pointing to the second terminal equipment to the second user plane network element.

By means of the above-described scheme, communication between a group member (i.e. a first terminal device) served by a first session management network element and a group member (i.e. a second terminal device) served by a second session management network element can be established.

It should be understood that the specific interaction procedure between the network elements in fig. 1 may refer to the method flow in fig. 4, or refer to the method flow in fig. 5, and the specific implementation may refer to the detailed descriptions in the methods 400 and 500.

The communication system 100 shown in fig. 1 may be applied to the fifth generation (5th generation,5G) network architecture shown in fig. 2 (a) and/or fig. 2 (b), and may of course also be used in future network architectures, such as the sixth generation (6th generation,6G) network architecture, which is not limited in particular in this embodiment of the present application.

For example, assuming that the communication system 100 shown in fig. 1 is applied to the 5G network shown in fig. 2 (a) and/or fig. 2 (b), the session management network element may be an SMF in 5G.

A 5G system to which the embodiments of the present application are applicable will be illustrated below in conjunction with (a) in fig. 2 and (b) in fig. 2. It should be understood that the 5G system described herein is merely an example and should not be construed as limiting the present application in any way.

It should also be understood that a service interface, or a point-to-point interface, may be used for communication between certain network elements in the 5G system, and a 5G system framework based on the point-to-point interface and a 5G system framework based on the service interface are described below in conjunction with (a) in fig. 2 and (b) in fig. 2, respectively.

As an exemplary illustration, fig. 2 (a) shows a schematic architecture diagram of a 5G system 200a to which the embodiments of the present application are applicable. Fig. 2 (a) is a schematic diagram of a 5G network architecture based on a point-to-point interface. As shown in fig. 2 (a), the network architecture may include, but is not limited to, the following network elements (alternatively referred to as functional network elements, functional entities, nodes, devices, etc.):

(radio) access network equipment (radio access network, (R) AN), access and mobility management functions (access and mobility management function, AMF) network elements, session management functions (session management function, SMF) network elements, user plane functions (user plane function, UPF) network elements, policy control functions (policy control function, PCF) network elements, unified data management (unified data management, UDM) network elements, AF network elements, data networks (data networks, DN), network slice selection functions (network slice selection function, NSSF), authentication server functions (authentication server function, AUSF), unified data management (unified data management, UDM), BSF network elements, unified data storage (unified data repository, UDR), and the like.

The following briefly describes each network element shown in (a) in fig. 2:

1. user Equipment (UE): may be referred to as a terminal device (terminal equipment), a terminal apparatus, an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a Mobile Station (MS), a Mobile Terminal (MT), a remote station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a subscriber terminal, a wireless communication device, a user agent, or a subscriber apparatus. The terminal device may be a device providing voice/data connectivity to a user, e.g., a handheld device with wireless connectivity, an in-vehicle device, etc. Currently, some examples of terminals may be: a mobile phone (mobile phone), a tablet (pad), a computer with wireless transceiver function (e.g., a notebook, a palm, etc.), a mobile internet device (mobile internet device, MID), a Virtual Reality (VR) device, an augmented reality (augmented reality, AR) device, a wireless terminal in an industrial control (industrial control), a wireless terminal in an unmanned (self-drive), a wireless terminal in a telemedicine (remote medical), a wireless terminal in a smart grid (smart grid), a wireless terminal in a transportation security (transportation safety), a wireless terminal in a smart city (smart city), a wireless terminal in a smart home (smart home), a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (session initiation protocol, SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (wireless local loop, WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (personal digital assistant, PDA), a handheld device with wireless communication function, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, a wireless terminal in a wearable device, a land-based device, a future-mobile terminal in a smart city (smart city), a public network (35G) or a future mobile communication device, etc.

Furthermore, the terminal device may also be a terminal device in an internet of things (Internet of things, ioT) system. IoT is an important component of future information technology development, and its main technical feature is to connect an item with a network through a communication technology, so as to implement man-machine interconnection and an intelligent network for object interconnection. IoT technology may enable massive connectivity, deep coverage, and terminal power saving through, for example, narrowband (NB) technology.

In addition, the terminal device may further include an intelligent printer, a train detector, and the like, and the main functions include collecting data (part of the terminal device), receiving control information of the network device and downstream data, and transmitting electromagnetic waves to transmit upstream data to the network device.

It should be appreciated that the user equipment may be any device that can access the network. And the terminal equipment and the access network equipment can communicate with each other by adopting a certain air interface technology.

Alternatively, the user equipment may be used to act as a base station. For example, the user equipment may act as a scheduling entity that provides side-uplink signals between user equipments in V2X or D2D, etc. For example, a cellular telephone and a car communicate with each other using side-link signals. Communication between the cellular telephone and the smart home device is accomplished without relaying communication signals through the base station.

2. (radio) access network (R) AN) device: the system is used for providing network access functions for authorized user equipment in a specific area and can use transmission tunnels with different service qualities according to the level of the user equipment, the service requirements and the like.

The (R) AN can manage radio resources, provide access services for the ue, and further complete forwarding of control signals and ue data between the ue and the core network.

The access network device in the embodiments of the present application may be any communication device with a wireless transceiver function for communicating with a user device. The access network device includes, but is not limited to, an evolved Node B (eNB) or 5G, such as NR, a gNB in a system, or a transmission point (TRP or TP), one or a group of (including multiple antenna panels) antenna panels of a base station in a 5G system, or may also be a network Node, such as a baseband unit (BBU), or a Distributed Unit (DU), etc., that forms the gNB or the transmission point.

In some deployments, the gNB may include a Centralized Unit (CU) and DUs. The gNB may also include an active antenna unit (active antenna unit, AAU). The CU implements part of the functionality of the gNB and the DU implements part of the functionality of the gNB. For example, the CU is responsible for handling non-real time protocols and services, implementing the functions of the radio resource control (radio resource control, RRC), packet data convergence layer protocol (packet data convergence protocol, PDCP) layer. The DUs are responsible for handling physical layer protocols and real-time services, implementing the functions of the radio link control (radio link control, RLC), medium access control (media access control, MAC) and Physical (PHY) layers. The AAU realizes part of physical layer processing function, radio frequency processing and related functions of the active antenna. Since the information of the RRC layer may eventually become information of the PHY layer or be converted from the information of the PHY layer, under this architecture, higher layer signaling, such as RRC layer signaling, may also be considered to be transmitted by the DU or by the du+aau. It is understood that the access network device may be a device comprising one or more of a CU node, a DU node, an AAU node. In addition, the CU may be divided into access network devices in an access network (radio access network, RAN), or may be divided into access network devices in a Core Network (CN), which is not limited in this application.

3. User plane function (user plane function, UPF) network element: quality of service (quality of service, qoS) handling for packet routing and forwarding, user plane data, etc.

In a 5G communication system, the user plane network element may be a user plane function (user plane function, UPF) network element. In future communication systems, the user plane network element may still be a UPF network element, or may have other names, which is not limited in this application.

4. Access and mobility management function (access and mobility management function, AMF) network element: the access and mobility management function network element is mainly used for mobility management, access management and the like, and can be used for realizing other functions besides session management in the MME function, such as access authorization/authentication and the like.

In future communication systems, the access and mobility management device may still be an AMF, or may have other names, which are not limited in this application.

5. Session management function (session management function, SMF) network element: the method is mainly used for session management, network interconnection protocol (internet protocol, IP) address allocation and management of user equipment, terminal node of selecting manageable user plane functions, strategy control and charging function interfaces, downlink data notification and the like.

In future communication systems, the session management network element may still be an SMF network element, or may have other names, which are not limited in this application.

6. Policy control function (policy control function, PCF) network element: a unified policy framework for guiding network behavior, providing policy rule information for control plane function network elements (e.g., AMFs, SMFs, etc.), and the like.

In future communication systems, the policy control network element may still be a PCF network element, or may have other names, which are not limited in this application.

7. Application function (application function, AF): the method is used for carrying out data routing of application influence, a wireless access network open function network element, strategy control by interaction with a strategy framework and the like.

In future communication systems, the application network element may still be an AF network element, or may have other names, which are not limited in this application.

8. Unified data management (unified data management, UDM) network element: for handling UE identities, access authentication, registration, mobility management, etc.

In future communication systems, the unified data management may still be a UDM network element, or may have other names, which are not limited in this application.

9. Authentication server (authentication server function, AUSF) network element: the method is used for realizing the bidirectional authentication of the user equipment by the authentication service and the generation of the secret key, and supports a unified authentication framework.

In future communication systems, the authentication server function network element may still be an AUSF network element, or may have other names, which is not limited in this application.

10. Network data analysis function (network data analytics function, NWDAF) network element: load level information for identifying network slice instances, loading network slice instances. The network data analysis function may subscribe or unsubscribe NF consumers to periodic notifications and notify the consumers if a threshold is exceeded.

In future communication systems, the network data analysis function element may still be an NWDAF network element, or may have other names, which is not limited in this application.

11. Data Network (DN): the DN is a network outside the operator network, the operator network can access a plurality of DNs, a plurality of services can be deployed on the DNs, and services such as data and/or voice can be provided for the terminal equipment. For example, the DN is a private network of an intelligent plant, the sensors installed in the plant may be terminal devices, and the DN may deploy control servers for the sensors, which may service the sensors. The sensor may communicate with the control server, obtain instructions from the control server, transmit collected sensor data to the control server, etc., according to the instructions. For another example, DN is an internal office network of a company, where a mobile phone or a computer of an employee of the company may be a terminal device, and the mobile phone or the computer of the employee may access information, data resources, etc. on the internal office network of the company.

Nausf, nnef, npcf, nudm, naf, namf, nsmf, N1, N2, N3, N4, and N6 in fig. 2 (a) are interface serial numbers. The meaning of these interface sequence numbers may be found in the meanings defined in the 3GPP standard protocols, and are not limited herein.

In the network architecture shown in fig. 2 (a), the network elements may communicate through interfaces shown in the figure. As shown, the UE and the AMF may interact through an N1 interface, and the interaction Message may be referred to as an N1 Message (N1 Message), for example. The interaction between the RAN and the AMF may be performed through an N2 interface, and the N2 interface may be used for sending non-access stratum (NAS) messages, etc. Interaction between RAN and UPF may be performed through an N3 interface, and the N3 interface may be used to transfer data of the user plane, etc. The SMF and the UPF may interact through an N4 interface, where the N4 interface may be used to transmit information such as tunnel identification information of the N3 connection, data buffer indication information, and a downlink data notification message. Interaction between the UPF and DN can be performed through an N6 interface, and the N6 interface can be used for transmitting data of a user plane and the like. The relationship between the other interfaces and the network elements is shown in fig. 2 (a), and is not described in detail here for brevity.

As shown in fig. 2 (b), a schematic diagram of a 5G network architecture based on a point-to-point interface is shown, where the description of the functions of the network elements may refer to the description of the functions of the corresponding network elements in fig. 2 (a), and will not be repeated. The main difference between fig. 2 (b) and fig. 2 (a) is that: the interfaces between the individual network elements in fig. 2 (b) are point-to-point interfaces, rather than being servitized interfaces.

In the architecture shown in fig. 2 (b), the interface names and functions between the network elements are as follows:

1) N7: the interface between PCF and SMF is used to issue protocol data unit (protocol data unit, PDU) session granularity and traffic data flow granularity control policies.

2) N15: and the interface between the PCF and the AMF is used for issuing UE strategies and access control related strategies.

3) N5: and the interface between the AF and the PCF is used for issuing application service requests and reporting network events.

4) N4: the interface between SMF and UPF is used for transferring information between control plane and user plane, including control plane-oriented forwarding rule, qoS control rule, flow statistics rule, etc. issuing and user plane information reporting.

5) N11: an interface between the SMF and the AMF for conveying PDU session tunnel information between the RAN and the UPF, conveying control messages sent to the UE, conveying radio resource control information sent to the RAN, etc.

6) N2: and an interface between the AMF and the RAN, which is used for transmitting radio bearer control information and the like from the core network side to the RAN.

7) N1: the interface between the AMF and the UE, access independent, is used to deliver QoS control rules etc. to the UE.

8) N8: the interface between the AMF and the UDM is used for the AMF to acquire subscription data and authentication data related to access and mobility management from the UDM, and the AMF registers the current mobility management related information of the UE from the UDM.

9) N10: and the interface between the SMF and the UDM is used for the SMF to acquire session management related subscription data from the UDM, registering the current session related information of the UE from the UDM, and the like.

10 N35: and the interface between the UDM and the UDR is used for the UDM to acquire the user subscription data information from the UDR.

11 N36: and the interface between the PCF and the UDR is used for the PCF to acquire the policy related subscription data and the application data related information from the UDR.

12 N12: an interface between the AMF and the AUSF, which is used for the AMF to initiate an authentication process to the AUSF, wherein SUCI can be carried as a subscription identifier;

13 N13): and the interface between the UDM and the AUSF is used for acquiring the user authentication vector from the UDM by the AUSF so as to execute the authentication flow.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a user plane architecture 300 of a 5G VN service. Wherein UPF1-UPF3 belongs to one 5G VN, UE1-UE3 is connected to one UPF of the 5G VNs through one RAN, for example, UE1 is connected to UPF1 through RAN1, UE2 is connected to UPF2 through RAN2, and UE3 is connected to UPF3 through RAN3, so as to access to a User Plane (UP) of the corresponding 5G VN through UPF. For example, UEs 1-UE3 are respectively connected to 5gc up through UPF1-UPF3, UE1-UE3 belongs to one 5G VN group. Wherein a UE is located in a 5G VN (or it may be understood that a UE belongs to a 5G VN or 5G VN service, or the UE subscribes to a 5G VN or 5G VN service, or the UE associates or corresponds to a 5G VN or 5G VN service). The user plane of a 5G VN may communicate with existing VNs in the DN via an N6 interface. Alternatively, the user plane of the 5G VN may also associate protocol data unit (protocol data unit session, PDU) sessions (session) of different UEs through an N19 connection between the UPFs (e.g. UPF1-UPF 3) in the 5G VN, to implement private communications between the UEs.

To facilitate an understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the terms referred to in this application are first explained.

1. Protocol data unit (protocol data unit, PDU) session

Within a 5G communication system, a set of QoS flows (flows) are established on a UE, which have the same IP address and data network name (Data Network Name, DNN). QoS flows refer to data transmission channels within a 5G communication system.

The 5G core network (5G core network,5GC) supports PDU connectivity services. The PDU connection service may refer to a service of exchanging PDU packets between a terminal device and a Data Network (DN). The PDU connection service is implemented by the terminal device initiating the establishment of a PDU session. After a PDU session is established, that is, a PDU session tunnel is established, where the PDU session tunnel corresponds to the UE, and service data in the PDU session tunnel may be transmitted in the form of a unicast QoS flow. In other words, the PDU session is UE level. Each terminal device may establish one or more PDU sessions. Wherein a PDU Session identification (PDU Session ID) may be used to distinguish between different PDU sessions of the same UE.

2. Tunnel information

Tunnel information in the core network refers to the network address of an N3 (between RAN and UPF) tunnel or an N9 (between UPFs) tunnel in a PDU session.

According to the operator configuration, if allocation and release of tunnel information is performed by the SMF, a tunnel information space must be managed by the SMF. The SMF allocates tunnel information and provides the allocated tunnel information to the UPF when the PDU session is established, and releases the tunnel information and informs the UPF of the released tunnel information when the PDU session is released.

According to the operator configuration, if allocation and release of tunnel information is performed by the UPF, the tunnel information space must be managed by the UPF. At PDU session establishment, the SMF should request the UPF to allocate tunnel information, and the UPF provides the allocated tunnel information to the SMF in a response message. The SMF then provides the received tunnel information to the access network. At the time of PDU session release, the SMF should request the UPF to release the core network tunnel information.

Fig. 4 illustrates an exemplary flow chart of a method 400 provided by an embodiment of the present application. The method 400 is illustrated below in connection with the method flow diagram of fig. 4.

S401, the group management network element sends the identification information of the second session management network element to the first session management network element. Correspondingly, the first session management network element receives identification information of the second session management network element from the group management network element.

The first session management network element and the second session management network element are for example respectively serving sessions of different terminal devices belonging to the same group, for example, the first session management network element is a network element for serving sessions of the first terminal device, and the second session management network element is a network element for serving sessions of the second terminal device, wherein the first terminal device and the second terminal device belong to the same group.

It should be understood that the identification information of the second session management network element may be information for uniquely determining the second session management network element, for example, the identification information of the second session management network element may be an instance identifier (instance ID), a fully defined domain name (fully qualified domain name, FQDN), or address information of the second session management network element, or a uniform resource identifier (uniform resource identifier, URI), or an endpoint number (endpoint) or a context ID, etc., which are not limited in this application.

It should also be appreciated that the group management element is a logical functional element, which may be a separate element, such as a group session management element (group session management function, GSMF), or may integrate the functionality in other elements, such as a unified data management element (unified data management, UDM), or a session management element (session management function, SMF), or other core elements, which is not limited in this application.

In one implementation, the group management network element sends identification information of the second session management network element to the first session management network element according to the subscription message #1 of the first session management network element.

For example, in the process that the first terminal device establishes a session through the first session management network element, or after the first terminal device establishes a session through the first session management network element, in S402, the first session management network element sends a subscription message #1 to the group management network element, where the subscription message #1 includes identification information of the group, and the subscription message #1 is used for subscribing to a change notification of group information of the group.

The identification information of the group may be information for identifying or determining the group, for example, the identification information of the group is a group identification (group ID) of the group, or a data network name (data network name, DNN), or combined information of the data network name and single network slice selection auxiliary information (single network slice selection assistance information, S-nsai), which is not limited in this application.

The change notification of the group information may include a change notification of a session management network element corresponding to the group, that is, the subscription message #1 is used to send a notification message to the first session management network element when a new session management network element is registered in the group (or when another new session management network element starts to provide services for the same group), or when a certain session management network element logs out from the group (or another session management network element stops providing services for the group). For example, after the second terminal device establishes a session through the second session management network element, the second session management network element may register its own identification information and identification information of the group of services to the group management network element. Specifically, for example, in S403, the second session management network element sends a registration request message to the group management network element, where the registration request message includes identification information of the second session management network element and identification information of the group. Optionally, the second session management network element may register information of the user plane network element managed by itself and identification information of the group member to the group management network element. The information of the user plane network element may be tunnel information of the user plane network element, and the identification information of the group member may be address information of the group member. It should be understood that in this application, group members are illustrated as terminal devices.

Optionally, after receiving the registration request message from the second session management network element, the group management network element stores an association relationship between the identification information of the second session management network element and the identification information of the group. If the second session management network element registers the information of the user plane network element managed by the second session management network element and the identification information of the group member to the group management network element, the group management network element stores the association relationship among the identification information of the group, the identification information of the second session management network element, the information of the user plane network element managed by the second session management network element and the identification information of the group member. If the second terminal establishes a session through the second session management network element, the second session management network element selects the second user plane network element to serve the session, and allocates an IP address to the second terminal device, the group management network element stores association relationship among the identification information of the group, the identification information of the second session management network element, the second user plane network element information, and the IP address of the second terminal device.

In this implementation, after the group management network element receives the registration request message from the second session management network element, based on the subscription message #1, the group management network element sends a notification message to the first session management network element, where the notification message includes identification information of the second session management network element and identification information of the group. The notification message may be used to indicate that the second session management network element serving the group is registered with the group management network element, or the notification message may be used to indicate that the second session management network element is a network element serving a session of a group member in the group, or the notification message may be used to indicate that there is an association between the second session management network element and the group, and the notification message may possibly indicate other meanings, which is not limited in this application.

The change notification of the group information may also be used to notify the session management network element of the existing service group to the session management network element of the newly joined service group. For example, assume that the first session management network element is an existing session management network element serving the group, and the second session management network element sends identification information of the first session management network element to the second session management network element based on the subscription message #1 when the second session management network element subsequently starts serving the group. It should be understood that a session management network element of a service group refers to a session management network element that provides services for sessions of one or more group members of the group.

In another implementation, after receiving the registration request message of the second session management network element, the group management network element determines the first session management network element by itself, and then sends the identification information of the second session management network element to the first session management network element. For example, after receiving a registration request message from a second session management network element, the group management network element queries or determines other session management network elements that serve the sessions of the group members in the group. The group management network element may query other session management network elements in the local storage, or may query other session management network elements through other network elements, which is not limited in this application. It should be understood that the association between the identification information of the first session management network element and the identification information of the group is pre-stored in the group management network element, for example, after the first terminal device in the group establishes a session through the first session management network element, the first session management network element registers the identification information of itself and the identification information of the group with the group management network element, and the group management network element receives and stores the association between the identification information of the first session management network element and the identification information of the group. Specifically, for example, the first session management network element sends a registration request message to the group management network element, where the registration request message includes identification information of the group and identification information of the first session management network element. After receiving the registration request message from the first session management network element, the group management network element stores the association relationship between the identification information of the first session management network element and the identification information of the group. Therefore, after the group management network element receives the registration request message from the second session management network element, the first session management network element can be determined according to the identification information of the group, and then a notification message is sent to the first session management network element, and the identification information of the second session management network element is carried in the notification message.

In yet another possible implementation manner, the group management network element may further send identification information of the second session management network element to the first session management network element according to the request message of the first session management network element.

As an example, the first session management network element sends a request message #2 to the group management network element for finding the session management network element serving the group, the request message #2 comprising identification information of the group. The group identification information is used for determining a session management network element serving the group by the group management network element. Correspondingly, after receiving the request message #2 from the first session management network element, the group management network element queries the session management network element serving the group, or otherwise queries the session management network element corresponding to the group, and then sends a response message #2 to the first session management network element, where the response message #2 includes identification information of the session management network element serving the group, and includes identification information of the second session management network element. Alternatively, the second session management network element may be a subset of the session management network elements of the service group determined by the group management network element. It should be understood that the identification information of the session management network element carried in the response message #2 may also include identification information of the first session management network element, and/or identification information of other session management network elements serving the group. The first session management network element may query the group management network element for all session management network elements serving the group through the request message #2, or may query the group management network element for session management network elements other than itself (the first session management network element) through the request message #2, which is not limited in this application.

As yet another example, the first session management network element sends a request message #3 to the group management network element for querying the session management network element serving one or more group members in the group, the request message #3 comprising identification information of the group and identification information of the one or more group members or information of the user plane network element. If in step S403, the group management element stores the association relationship among the group identification information, the session management element identification information, the user plane element information managed by the session management element, and the group member identification information, the group management element may determine one or more session management elements serving the one or more group members according to the one or more group member identification information or the user plane element information, and then send the one or more session management elements to the first session management element through the response message # 3. For example, the first session management network element sends a request message #3 to the group management network element, where the request message #3 includes identification information of the group and identification information of the second terminal device, and the request message #3 may be used to find a session management network element serving the second terminal device. Correspondingly, after receiving the request message #3, the group management network element determines that the second session management network element is a network element for providing services for the session of the second terminal device according to the identification information of the second terminal device, so that the group management network element sends a response message #3 to the first session management network element, and the response message #3 includes the identification information of the second session management network element.

It should be appreciated that the second session management network element may also receive the identification information of the first session management network element from the group management network element by means of the above-described implementation.

In the embodiment of the present application, the group management network element sends the identification information of the second session management network element to the first session management network element as an example, but it should be understood that if the group management network element determines that other session management network elements still exist to provide services for the session of one or more group members, the group management network element may also send the identification information of the second session management network element to the session management network element, which is similar in specific implementation manner and will not be repeated herein.

S404, the first session management network element sends a request message #1 to the second session management network element. Correspondingly, the second session management network element receives the request message #1 from the first session management network element.

In one implementation, after the first session management network element receives the identification information of the second session management network element from the group management network element, the first session management network element may determine that there are other session management network elements (i.e., the second session management network element) serving the current group, in order to enable group communication between group members managed by different session management network elements, the first session management network element determines to establish a session with the second session management network element, and/or to establish a tunnel between the user plane network element managed by the first session management network element and the user plane network element managed by the second session management network element.

Based on the above, the first session management network element sends a request message #1 to the second session management network element according to the identification information of the second session management network element, where the request message #1 includes the identification information of the group, the tunnel information of the first user plane network element, and the identification information of the first terminal device, and the first user plane network element is a user plane network element managed by the first session management network element and providing services for the first terminal device. The first terminal device may include one or more terminal devices, and the first user plane network element may also include one or more user plane network elements, where one first user plane network element may correspond to one or more first terminal devices, i.e., one first user plane network element may serve one or more first terminal devices. Optionally, the request message #1 may further include a session identifier of the first session management network element, where the session identifier of the first session management network element is used to identify a context for the group associated with the second session management network element on the first session management network element. The session identifier of the first session management network element is allocated or maintained by the first session management network element, which may be an identifier such as a context identifier (context ID) or a callback URI, and is used for sending a response message or an update message to the first session management network element by the subsequent second session management network element. The session identifier of the first session management network element may be included in the request message #1, or may be included in a header of the request message #1, which is not limited.

It will be appreciated that the session identity of the first session management network element may be associated not only with the second session management network element, but also with other session management network elements (e.g. a third session management network element), in which case the session identity of the first session management network element is used to identify a context for the group, which context may be regarded as a group-granularity context, rather than a session management network element-granularity context. Taking the first session management network element, the second session management network element and the third session management network element as examples of the group service, in one implementation manner, the first session management network element allocates two session identifiers to be respectively associated with the second session management network element and the third session management network element. In another implementation, the first session management network element only allocates one session identification to be associated with the second session management network element and the third session management network element simultaneously. The session identification of the first session management network element may identify both a context for the group associated with the second session management network element on the first session management network element and a context for the group associated with the third session management network element on the first session management network element, while the context for the group on the first session management network element may be identified.

It should be understood that the tunnel information of the first user plane network element may be allocated by the first session management network element or may be allocated by the first user plane network element, which is not limited in this application. The tunnel information of the first user plane network element may refer to N19 tunnel information of the first user plane network element.

The identification information of the first terminal device may be a subscription permanent identification (subscription permanent identifier, SUPI) of the first terminal device, or a general public user identification (generic public subscription identifier, GPSI), or address information (e.g. an internet protocol address (internet protocol address, IP address) or a media access control address (media access control address, MAC address) of the first terminal device), etc.

The Request message #1 may be a session establishment Request (pdustion_create Request) message, for example, the Request message #1 is used to Request establishment of a session between the first session management network element and the second session management network element; alternatively, the request message #1 may be a tunnel establishment request message, for example, the request message #1 is used to request establishment of a tunnel between the first user plane network element and the user plane network element managed by the second session management network element; alternatively, the request message #1 may be a tunnel information request message, for example, the request message #1 is used to request tunnel information of a user plane network element that is managed by the second session management network element and provides services for the group member. The specific name of the message is not limited in this application.

It should be understood that, if the second session management network element receives the identification information of the first session management network element from the group management network element, the second session management network element may also send a request message #1 to the first session management network element, where the request message #1 includes the identification information of the group, the tunnel information of the second user plane network element, and the identification information of the second terminal device, where the second user plane network element is a user plane network element managed by the second session management network element and providing services for the second terminal device. Optionally, the request message #1 may further include session information of a second session management network element, where a session identifier of the second session management network element is used to identify a context for the group associated with the first session management network element on the second session management network element. The session identifier of the second session management network element is allocated or maintained by the second session management network element, which may be an identifier such as a context identifier (context ID) or a callback URI, and is used for sending a response message or an update message to the second session management network element by the subsequent first session management network element. The session identifier of the second session management network element may be included in the request message #1, or may be included in a header of the request message #1, which is not limited. In the following, the present application is described by taking an example that the first session management network element sends the request message #1 to the second session management network element, and the second session management network element sends the request message #1 and the corresponding response message #1 to the first session management network element, which will not be described in detail.

Optionally, the first session management network element may be assigned a session identifier of the first session management network element for identifying a context for the group associated with the second session management network element on the first session management network element before sending the request message # 1. In this case, the first session management network element may carry the session identification of the first session management network element in the request message # 1.

Optionally, S405, the first session management network element determines that there is no context associated with the second session management network element for the group on the first session management network element.

Illustratively, before the first session management network element sends the request message #1 to the second session management network element, the first session management network element checks whether there is a context for the group associated with the second session management network element on the first session management network element, or, the first session management network element checks whether there is a session for the group with the second session management network element. In one implementation, the first session management network element may be determined according to whether session information of the first session management network element is allocated, and if the session information of the first session management network element is already available, it may be determined that a context associated with the second session management network element exists on the first session management network element for the group. Otherwise, it is not present. In another implementation, the first session management network element may determine whether session information of the second session management network element is stored, and if so, may determine that a context associated with the second session management network element for the group exists on the first session management network element. Otherwise, it is not present.

It should be appreciated that the session identity of the second session management network element may be associated not only with the first session management network element but also with other session management network elements (e.g. a third session management network element), in which case the session identity of the second session management network element is used to identify a context for the group, i.e. may be regarded as a group-granularity context, rather than a session management network element-granularity context, in which case the context for the group associated with the first session management network element on the second session management network element may be the same meaning as the context for the group on the second session management network element. Taking the first session management network element, the second session management network element and the third session management network element as examples of the group service, in one implementation manner, the second session management network element allocates two session identifiers to be respectively associated with the first session management network element and the third session management network element. In another implementation, the second session management network element only allocates one session identifier to be associated with the first session management network element and the third session management network element at the same time, and the session identifier of the second session management network element may identify a context for the group associated with the first session management network element on the second session management network element, or may identify a context for the group associated with the third session management network element on the second session management network element, and may identify a context for the group on the second session management network element.

Wherein different contexts (or sessions) may be established between the first session management network element and the second session management network element for different groups, and a session for a group refers to a session between the first session management network element and the second session management network element corresponding to the group.

If the context does not exist, i.e. the first session management network element determines that there is no session for the group between the first session management network element and the second session management network element, the first session management network element performs step S404, i.e. the first session management network element sends a request message #1 to the second session management network element.

If the context exists, in one implementation, the first session management network element no longer requests to establish a session from the second session management network element, but requests to reuse a previously established session, at which point the request message #1 may be a session update request message.

In another implementation, the first session management network element does not make a determination, always requests the second session management network element to establish a session, and after receiving a request message from the first session management network element, the second session management network element checks whether a session for the group between the first session management network element and the second session management network element has been established, and if so, the second session management network element denies the request of the first session management network element. If the first session management network element receives a rejection message from the second session management network element, the first session management network element may send a session update request message to the second session management network element.

Optionally, S406, the first session management network element sends a subscription message #2 to the second session management network element. Correspondingly, the second session management network element receives a subscription message #2 from the first session management network element.

For example, the first session management network element may further send a subscription message #2 to the second session management network element, where the subscription message #2 is used to subscribe to a change notification of a user plane network element corresponding to the second session management network element and serving a group member in the group, and/or a change notification of a group member corresponding to the second session management network element. Optionally, the subscription message #2 includes identification information of the group and a session identification of the first session management network element. The session identifier of the first session management network element is allocated or maintained by the first session management network element, which may be identifier such as a notification URI, and is used for sending a notification message to the first session management network element by the subsequent second session management network element. The session identifier of the first session management network element may be included in the subscription message #2, or may be included in a message header (message header) of the subscription message #2, which is not limited.

Correspondingly, the second session management network element receives a subscription message #2 from the first session management network element. Based on the subscription message #2, when a new user plane network element for serving the group member is accessed to the second session management network element, or when a certain user plane network element for serving the group member is logged out from the second session management network element, the second session management network element needs to send a notification message to the first session management network element; and/or when a new group member accesses to the second session management network element, or when a certain group member logs off/goes offline from the second session management network element, the second session management network element needs to send a notification message to the first session management network element. For example, after the second terminal device served by the second session management network element moves, the second user plane network element serving the second terminal device changes, and the second session management network element sends a notification message to the first session management network element based on the subscription message #2, where the notification message may include information of the new second user plane network element and/or new address information of the second terminal device.

In one implementation, based on the subscription message #2, the second session management network element detects that there is a new IP allocation, or an IP address is released, or an IP address is changed, which may correspond to that there is a new group member accessing the second session management network element, a certain group member logs off/goes off from the second session management network element, and the user plane network element serving the group member changes three types of events, where the second session management network element determines that a notification message needs to be sent to the first session management network element.

It should be understood that S404 and S406 may be performed in combination, or may be performed separately, that is, the request message #1 of S404 and the subscription message #2 of S406 may be two separate messages, and may be combined into one message, which is not limited in this application.

Optionally, S407, the second session management network element allocates a session identifier.

For example, after the second session management network element receives the request message #1 from the first session management network element, the association relationship between the identification information of the first session management network element and the identification information of the group may be saved in a context, and a session identifier of the second session management network element is allocated, where the session identifier of the second session management network element is used to identify the context in which the second session management network element is associated with the first session management network element, and the session identifier of the second session management network element may be, for example, a context identifier (context ID) or a resource URI (resource URI).

It should be understood that if the second session management network element sends the request message #1 to the first session management network element, the main execution body in this step is the first session management network element.

S408, the second session management network element sends a response message #1 to the first session management network element. Correspondingly, the first session management network element receives a response message #1 from the second session management network element.

Illustratively, after receiving the request message #1 from the first session management network element, the second session management network element sends a response message #1 to the first session management, where the response message #1 includes tunnel information of the second user plane network element and identification information of the second terminal device. The second terminal device may include one or more terminal devices, and the second user plane network element may also include one or more user plane network elements, where one second user plane network element may correspond to one or more second terminal devices, i.e., one second user plane network element may serve one or more second terminal devices.

It should be understood that the tunnel information of the second user plane network element may be allocated by the second session management network element or may be allocated by the second user plane network element, which is not limited in this application.

Optionally, the response message #1 further includes a session identifier of the second session management network element, where the session identifier of the second session management network element is used to identify a context for the group, where the second session management network element is associated with the first session management network element, and the session identifier of the second session management network element may be, for example, a context identifier (context ID) or a resource URI (resource URI).

Optionally, the first session management network element stores the session identifier of the second session management network element and the identifier information of the group;

if the terminal device or the user plane network element managed by the subsequent first session management network element changes, the first session management network element may send the update message #1 to the second session management network element according to the session identifier of the second session management network element. For example, the first session management network element receives a session establishment request message for the group from a third terminal device, wherein the third terminal device belongs to the group. And responding to the session establishment request message, the first session management network element allocates a third user plane network element for the session of the third terminal equipment. And then the first session management network element sends an update message #1 to the second session management network element according to the session identifier of the second session management network element, wherein the update message #1 comprises the session identifier of the second session management network element, the tunnel information of the third user plane network element and the identifier information of the third terminal device, and the session identifier in the update message #1 is used for identifying which session is processed by the second session management network element.

It should be understood that the update request message #1 may be a session update request message or a tunnel modification request message, and the name of the message is not limited in this application.

Correspondingly, after receiving the update message #1 from the first session management network element, the second session management network element configures (adds or updates) a third forwarding rule in the second user plane network element according to the tunnel information of the third user plane network element and the identification information of the third terminal device, where the third forwarding rule is used to send a data packet with a destination address pointing to the third terminal device to the third user plane network element, or the third forwarding rule is used to send a data packet with a destination address being the identification information of the third terminal device to the third user plane network element, and encapsulates the tunnel information of the third user plane network element to the third user plane network element.

Optionally, after the second session management network element receives the update message #1, tunnel information of the third user plane network element and identification information of the third terminal device may be added to a context associated with the first session management network element for the group according to the session identification of the second session management network element.

The update message #1 may further include new, updated or released indication information, where the indication information is used to instruct the second session management network element to configure the third forwarding rule on the second user plane network element. The indication information may be a single information, or may be integrated in a message name, which is not limited.

For another example, after the first terminal device releases the session, the first session management network element sends an update message #1 to the second session management network element, where the update message #1 may be a session release request message or a tunnel release request message, and the name of the message is not limited. The update message #1 may include a session identifier of the second session management network element. The second session management network element deletes the third forwarding rule according to the update message # 1.

Optionally, after receiving the request message #1 of the first session management network element, the second session management network element configures a forwarding rule for the second user plane network element, so as to send the data packet with the destination address pointing to the first terminal device to the first user plane network element based on the tunnel information of the first user plane network element in step S404, or, for the data packet with the destination address being the first terminal device, encapsulate the tunnel information of the first user plane network element and send the tunnel information of the first user plane network element to the first user plane network element.

Optionally, the first session management network element receives a request message #3 from the second session management network element, wherein the request message #3 comprises identification information of the group. In this case the first session management network element checks whether there is a session for the group between the first session management network element and the second session management network element (here the session may also be replaced by a context, similar descriptions will not be repeated). When the first session management network element determines that there is a session for the group between the first session management network element and the second session management network element, the first session management network element rejects the request message #3.

Optionally, S409, the second session management network element sends a subscription message #3 to the group management network element. Correspondingly, the group management network element receives a subscription message #3 from the second session management network element. It is to be understood that S409 is similar to S402, and reference may be made to the description of the step S402 section.

The subscription message #3 includes an identifier of the group, where the subscription message #3 is used to subscribe to a group information change notification, and the group information change notification includes a change notification of a session management network element corresponding to the group, that is, the subscription message #3 is used to send a notification message to the second session management network element when a new session management network element is registered in the group or when a certain session management network element is logged out from the group. The notification of the change in the group information may also be used to notify the new session management network element of the existing service group, for example, assuming that the first session management network element serves the group first and the second session management network element subsequently serves the group, after step S408 the group management network element sends the identification of the first session management network element to the second session management network element.

It should be understood that S409 may be performed after S403, or after S408, which is not limited in this application.

It is noted that if the second session management network element receives the identification information of the first session management network element from the group management network element, the second session management network element determines that there are other session management network elements serving the current group, similarly to step S404, and the second session management network element may also send a request message to the first session management network element in order to enable group communication between group members managed by different session management network elements. Optionally, the second session management network element checks whether a session between the first session management network element and the second session management network element of the current group has been established. If established, in one implementation, the second session management network element may no longer request the first session management network element to establish a session, in another implementation, the second session management network element does not make a determination, always requests the first session management network element to establish a session, the first session management network element checks whether a session between the first session management network element and the second session management network element of the current group has been established, and if so, the first session management network element denies the request of the second session management network element.

Optionally, S409, the second session management network element sends a subscription message #4 to the first session management network element. Correspondingly, the first session management network element receives a subscription message #4 from the second session management network element. It should be understood that S409 is similar to S405, so the detailed steps may refer to the description of S405, and will not be repeated here.

The subscription message #4 is used for subscribing to a change notification of a user plane network element corresponding to the first session management network element and serving a group member in the group, and/or a change notification of a group member corresponding to the first session management network element.

Correspondingly, the first session management network element receives a subscription message #4 from the second session management network element. Based on the subscription message #4, when a new user plane network element for serving a group member is accessed to the first session management network element, or when a certain user plane network element for serving the group member is logged off from the first session management network element, the first session management network element needs to send a notification message to the second session management network element; and/or when a new group member accesses to the first session management network element, or when a certain group member logs off from the first session management network element, the first session management network element needs to send a notification message to the second session management network element.

S409, the first session management network element configures a first forwarding rule at the first user plane network element according to the tunnel information of the second user plane network element and the identification information of the second terminal device, where the first forwarding rule is used to send a data packet with a destination address pointing to the second terminal device to the second user plane network element.

It should be understood that the destination address refers to the packet of the second terminal device, that is, the destination address of the packet refers to the second terminal, or the destination address of the packet is the second terminal identification information (e.g., IP address, etc.).

Based on the scheme, the communication between the terminal devices corresponding to different session management network elements in the same group can be realized. Specifically, after the second terminal device belonging to the group establishes a session through the second session management network element, the second session management network element registers identification information of the second session management network element and identification information of the group with the group management network element. Based on the above, the group management network element notifies the session management network element currently serving the session of the group member (taking the first session management network element as an example serving the session of the first terminal device in the group), thereby triggering the first session management network element to establish the session with the second session management network element and the tunnel between the first user plane network element and the second user plane network element, thereby establishing a data forwarding path between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, realizing the communication between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, guaranteeing the safety of data transmission, and effectively shortening the transmission path.

On the other hand, the scheme of the embodiment of the application can also support updating of the topology information of the group members. For example, in the subsequent flow, the terminal device or the user plane device managed by the second session management network element changes, and the second session management network element sends the update message #2 to the first session management network element.

For example, the second session management network element receives a session establishment request message for the group from a fourth terminal device, wherein the fourth terminal device belongs to the group. And responding to the session establishment request message, the second session management network element allocates a fourth user plane network element for the session of the fourth terminal equipment.

In one implementation, the second session management network element maintains a context for the group associated with the first session management network element, or the second session management network element maintains a session for the group with the first session management network element, or the second session management network element maintains an association between identification information of the first session management network element and identification information of the group in the context for the group associated with the first session management network element, in which case the second session management network element determines identification information of the first session management network element according to the context for the group associated with the second session management network element, and then sends an update message #2 to the first session management network element according to the identification information of the first session management network element, the update message #2 including tunnel information of the fourth user plane network element, identification information of the fourth terminal device and session identification of the first session management network element.

In another implementation, the second session management network element sends a query request message to the group management network element for requesting information of other session management network elements of the corresponding group. After the group management network element determines the information of other session management network elements (including the identification information of the first session management network element), the group management network element sends a response message to the second management network element, and the response message contains the information of the other session management network elements (including the identification information of the first session management network element). And then the second session management network element sends an update message #2 to the first session management network element according to the identification information of the first session management network element. Correspondingly, after receiving the update message #1 from the first session management network element, the first session management network element configures a second forwarding rule at the first user plane network element according to the tunnel information of the fourth user plane network element and the identification information of the fourth terminal device, where the second forwarding rule is used to send a data packet with a destination address pointing to the fourth terminal device to the fourth user plane network element.

It should be understood that, if the first session management network element detects that any terminal device is no longer served, the first session management network element sends a session release request message to the second session management network element, where the session release request includes a session identifier of the second session management network element, and the second session management network element releases a forwarding rule configured on the second user plane network element and related to the first user plane network element managed by the first session management network element. Correspondingly, if the second session management network element detects that any terminal device is no longer served, the second session management network element may also send a session release request message to the first session management network element, where the session release request includes a session identifier of the first session management network element, and the first session management network element releases a first forwarding rule configured on the first user plane network element and related to the second user plane network element managed by the second session management network element.

Based on the scheme, after the topology information of the group members is updated, the data forwarding paths among the group members can be updated or established, so that the communication among the group members is realized.

In order to facilitate understanding of the solution provided by the embodiments of the present application, the method 500 provided by the embodiments of the present application is described below with reference to the method flowchart in fig. 5, based on the 5G system. It should be appreciated that in some implementations, UE1 in the method 500 described below may correspond to a first terminal device in the method 400, UE2 may correspond to a second terminal device in the method 400, UE3 may correspond to a fourth terminal device in the method 400, SMF1 may correspond to a first session management element in the method 400, SMF2 may correspond to a second session management element in the method 400, UPF1 may correspond to a first user plane element in the method 400, and UPF2 may correspond to a second user plane element in the method 400. In this case, the relevant interpretations or illustrations in method 400 and method 500 may be referenced to each other. The method 500 includes the following flow.

First, UE1 establishes a PDU session through a network device, wherein UE1 belongs to a group, or UE1 is a group member of a group. The session establishment procedure of the UE1 is briefly described in connection with S501 to S506, and a part not described in detail may refer to an existing protocol.

S501, UE1 sends a session establishment request (PDU Session Establishment Request) message to AMF 1. Correspondingly, AMF1 receives the session establishment request message from UE 1.

Illustratively, the session establishment request message includes identification information of UE1 and identification information of the group. The identification information of the UE1 may be SUPI, GPSI, address information (such as IP address) of the UE1, etc., where the UE1 belongs to the group, or the UE1 is a member of the group, that is, the identification information of the group is information for identifying the group in which the UE1 is located. In different scenarios, the groups here may have different names, for example in a 5G VN communication scenario, the groups here may be referred to as 5G VN groups or 5G LAN groups. The group identification information may be a specific group identification (group ID), DNN, dnn+s-nsai, or the like, which is not limited herein.

It should be understood that the group is made up of two or more group members. The group may be either pre-configured or dynamically created, and is not limited in this application.

It should also be understood that the session establishment request message may further include information such as identification of the PDU session, S-nsai, data network name, etc., which is not limited in this application.

S502, AMF1 establishes a session context through SMF 1.

Illustratively, AMF1, after receiving the session establishment request message from UE1, selects the appropriate SMF for the session. For example, AMF1 selects SMF1 to serve the session according to location information of UE1, S-nsai provided by UE1, data network name, etc. information query network service discovery function (NRF).

Further, AMF1 sends a PDU session context setup request (nsmf_pduse_ CreateSMContext Request) message to SMF 1. SMF1 creates a session context from the PDU session context setup request message and then sends a PDU session context setup response (nsmf_pduse_ CreateSMContext Response) message to AMF 1.

S503, SMF1 selects UPF.

Illustratively, SMF1 selects the appropriate UPF to service the session. For example, the SMF1 provides services for the session according to the location information of the UE1, the service range of the UPF, the data network name, the PDU session type, and other information UPF 1.

S504, SMF1 creates an N4 session with UPF 1.

Illustratively, after SMF1 selects UPF1 to serve the session, an N4 session is created with UPF 1. For example, SMF1 sends an N4 session creation request (N4 Session Establishment Request) message to UPF 1. Correspondingly, UPF1 receives the N4 session creation request message from SMF1, and then UPF1 allocates uplink tunnel information, and sends an N4 session creation response (N4 Session Establishment Response) message to SMF1, the N4 session creation response message including the uplink tunnel information of UPF 1.

Optionally, SMF1 or UPF1 may also assign address information, such as an IP address or MAC address of UE1, to UE 1.

Optionally, the SMF1 or UPF1 may also pre-allocate N19 tunnel information for the UE 1. For example, if the SMF1 determines that the UE1 needs to perform 5G VN communication subsequently according to the group identification information, the SMF1 allocates N19 tunnel information of the UPF1 for establishing a tunnel with other UPFs; alternatively, the SMF1 instructs the UPF1 to allocate N19 tunnel information, and then the UPF1 transmits the allocated tunnel information to the SMF1, it being understood that the UPF1 may transmit the allocated tunnel information to the SMF1 through an N4 session update request message.

S505, the SMF1 sends uplink tunnel information of the UPF1 to the RAN 1.

Illustratively, SMF1 sends N2 SM information to RAN1, where the N2 SM information includes UPF1 uplink tunnel information. It should be understood that the uplink tunnel information herein refers to uplink N3 tunnel information.

S506, the RAN1 sends the downlink tunnel information of the RAN1 to the SMF1.

Illustratively, RAN1 allocates downlink tunnel information and sends N2 SM information to SMF1, including downlink tunnel information for RAN 1. It should be understood that the downlink tunnel information herein refers to downlink N3 tunnel information.

Correspondingly, after receiving the downlink tunnel information from the RAN1, the SMF1 sends the downlink tunnel information of the RAN1 to the UPF1. Thus, an N3 tunnel between UPF1 and RAN1 is established.

SMF1 also establishes or configures the following forwarding rules on UPF 1: the data packet with the destination address being the address information of the UE1 is sent to the RAN1 through a corresponding N3 tunnel (i.e., an N3 tunnel between the UPF1 and the RAN 1). It should be understood that a packet whose destination address is address information of UE1 refers to a packet that needs to be transmitted to UE 1.

It should be appreciated that forwarding rules in embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as N4 rules (N4 rules).

S507, the SMF1 sends a registration request message #1 to the group management network element. Correspondingly, the group management network element receives the registration request message #1 from SMF 1.

Illustratively, the SMF1 sends a registration request message #1 to the group management network element, where the registration request message #1 includes the identification information of the SMF1 and the identification information of the group. The registration request message #1 is used to register the SMF1 to a group, or the registration request message #1 is used to register an association relationship between an identification of the SMF1 and identification information of the group, or the registration request message #1 is used to instruct the SMF1 to provide a service for a session of a group member in the group. Optionally, the SMF1 may further send N19 tunnel information of UPF1 and address information of UE1, which are allocated in advance, to the group management network element in the registration request message #1.

Correspondingly, after receiving the registration request message #1 from the SMF1, the group management network element records a correspondence between the identifier of the SMF1 and the identifier information of the group. Or, the correspondence relationship between the identification of the SMF1 and the identification information of the group, the N19 tunnel information of the UPF1, and the address of the UE1 is recorded.

The group management network element may be a UDM, GSMF, or other 5GC network element, or the group management network element may also be a newly added network element, or the group management network element may also be a module in a certain network element, or a function of the group management network element may be integrated in a certain 5GC network element, which is not limited in this application.

The identifier of the SMF1 may be a context identifier (context ID), a fully defined domain name (fully qualified domain name, FQDN), an address or uniform resource identifier (uniform resource identifier, URI) (e.g., a notification URI or a callback URI), an endpoint number (endpoint), or the like, which is not limited in this application.

Alternatively, before S507, the SMF1 may determine a group management network element. That is, the SMF1 may determine the group management network element before transmitting the registration request message #1 to the group management network element.

In a possible implementation, the SMF1 determines the group management network element according to the identification information of the UE 1. For example, SMF1 determines the group management network element as UDM based on SUPI.

In another possible implementation, the SMF1 determines the group management network element according to the configuration information. For example, if the SMF1 determines, according to the configuration information, that the identification information of the UE1 or the identification information of the group corresponds to a certain GSMF, the SMF1 determines that the GSMF is a group management network element.

In yet another possible implementation, the SMF1 determines the group management network element according to subscription information of the UE 1. For example, the subscription information of UE1 includes a group management network element corresponding to UE1, and the UDM stores the subscription information of UE1, so that SMF1 may query the UDM for the group management network element corresponding to UE1, and then determine the group management network element according to the subscription information of UE 1.

Optionally, at S508, the SMF1 sends a subscription message #a to the group management network element. Correspondingly, the group management network element receives the subscription message #a from SMF 1.

Illustratively, the subscription message #a includes identification information of a group, and the subscription message #a is used for subscribing to a group information change notification. After the group management network element receives the subscription message a, based on the subscription message #a, when a new SMF is registered in the group, or when a certain SMF is logged out from the group, the group management network element sends a notification message to the SMF1, or notifies the SMF of the existing service group to the SMF of the newly registered service group, and sends the identification information of the SMF1 to the SMF2 (for a specific procedure, refer to step S511).

In one implementation, the subscription message #a may correspond to the subscription message #1 in the method 400.

The subscription message #a may further include a URI (notification URI or callback URI) or an endpoint number (endpoint) of the SMF1, for the subsequent group management network element to send a notification message to the SMF 1.

S509, the UE2 performs a session establishment procedure through the network device.

It should be understood that the procedure of the UE2 performing the session establishment is similar to the session establishment procedure of the UE1 (i.e. steps S501 to S506), and will not be described here again. However, unlike UE1, the session of UE2 is served by SMF2 and UPF2, where SMF2 is different from SMF1 and UPF2 is different from UPF 1. Also, UE2 belongs to the group. That is, UE2 is a UE belonging to the same group as UE1, but served by different SMFs and UPFs.

S510, the SMF2 sends a registration request message #2 to the group management network element. Correspondingly, the group management network element receives the registration request message #2 from SMF 2.

It should be understood that S510 is similar to S507, except that the registration request message #2 includes the identification information of the SMF2 and the identification information of the group, and the specific process is not repeated. The registration request message #2 may further include identification information of the UPF2 and address information of the UE 2.

Optionally, S511, the SMF2 sends a subscription message #b to the group management network element. Correspondingly, the group management network element receives a subscription message #2 from SMF 2.

It should be understood that S511 is similar to S508, except that the subscription message #b is used to send a notification message to the SMF2 when a new SMF is registered with the group or when a certain SMF is unregistered from the group. And subscription message #b includes URI or endpoint number of SMF 2. The specific process is not described in detail. Note that if immediate notification is supported, the identification information of SMF1 may be included in the response message of the subscription. Or after the subscribed response message, the SMF2 receives a notification message from the group management network element, where the notification message includes the identification information of the SMF 1.

In one implementation, the subscription message #b may correspond to subscription message #3 in the method 400.

S512, the SMF1 receives the identification information of the SMF2 from the group management network element.

In one implementation, the group management network element sends a notification message #1 to SMF1 based on the subscription message # a from SMF1 received in step S508. Correspondingly, SMF1 receives notification message #1 from the group management network element. Illustratively, after receiving the registration request message #2 from the SMF2, the group management network element determines that the SMF corresponding to the group has changed, or determines that a change event of the SMF corresponding to the group has occurred, or determines that a new SMF is registered to the group, so that the group management network element sends a notification message #1 to the SMF1 based on the subscription message # a, where the notification message #1 includes an identifier of the SMF 2. In one implementation, the notification message may further include an indication of the new SMF joining, to indicate that SMF2 is newly registered with the group.

In another implementation, the group management element may be another session management element (i.e., SMF 1) that, after receiving the registration request message #2 from SMF2, determines itself to serve the session of the group member in the group, and then sends the notification message #1 to SMF1.

In yet another implementation, the SMF1 sends a request message to the group management network element for searching for an SMF serving the group, where the request message includes identification information of the group, and the identification information of the group is used by the group management network element to determine the SMF serving the group, where the SMF includes SMF2. Or, the SMF1 sends a request message for searching for the SMF serving the UE2 in the group to the group management network element, where the request message includes the group identification information and the UE2 identification information, and the group identification information and the UE2 identification information are used by the group management network element to determine the SMF serving the UE 2. The group management network element determines the identification information of the SMF2 based on the recorded correspondence between the identification information of the SMF2 and the group, the N19 tunnel information of the UPF2 and the identification of the UE2, and then sends the identification information of the SMF2 to the SMF1.

S513, the SMF1 sends a request message #1 to the SMF2.

Illustratively, after SMF1 obtains the identification information of SMF2, SMF1 determines that there is still a current group for SMF2 service, determines to establish a session between SMF1 and SMF2 corresponding to the current group, or, alternatively, determines to create a 5G VN session across SMFs (i.e., a session between SMF1 and SMF 2), and/or determines to create a tunnel between UPF1 and UPF 2. Specifically, the SMF1 sends a request message #1 to the SMF2 according to the identification information of the SMF2, the request message #1 including the identification information of the group, the tunnel information of the UPF1, and the address information of the UE1, and optionally, the request message #1 may further include the identification information of the SMF1. The name of the request message is not limited in the present application, for example, the request message may be a session establishment request message, or a tunnel establishment request message, etc., which is not limited in the present application. The request message is used to request establishment of a session between SMF1 and SMF2 corresponding to the group, or to request establishment of an N19 tunnel between UPF1 and SMF2 managed UPF (i.e., UPF 2), or to request acquisition of tunnel information of SMF2 managed UPF (i.e., UPF 2). It should be understood that the tunnel information herein refers to N19 tunnel information. The session identification of SMF1 may be context ID or callback URI of SMF1. Notably, before SMF1 sends a session establishment request message to SMF2, SMF1 may check whether a session for the group has been established between SMF1 and SMF2 for the current group, or SMF1 checks whether there is a context for the group associated with SMF2 on SMF1.

It should be appreciated that the context associated with SMF2 for the group may be a group-granularity context or an SMF 2-granularity context. For example, SMF1, SMF2, and SMF3 serve the group, where the context maintained by the SMF1 for the group may be a context associated with both SMF2 and SMF 3. Alternatively, the context for the group maintained by SMF1 may also be associated with SMF2, while SMF1 also maintains the context for the group associated with SMF 3.

For example, the SMF1 determines whether a session between the SMF1 and the SMF2 for the current group has been established according to whether a session identifier of the SMF1 and/or a session identifier of the SMF2 for the current group exist, if so, the session between the SMF1 and the SMF2 for the current group is already established, otherwise, the session between the SMF1 and the SMF2 for the current group is not established. If established, in one implementation, SMF1 no longer sends a session setup request message to SMF2, but reuses a previously established session, sending a session update request to SMF 2. In another implementation, SMF1 does not make a decision, always sends a session setup request message to SMF2, and SMF2 checks whether a session between SMF1 and SMF2 of the current group has been established, and if so, SMF2 denies the session setup request of SMF 1.

The subsequent SMF2 may send a session modification request to the SMF1 based on the identification information of the SMF1, for example, in step S520, the SMF2 does not send a notification message to the SMF1, but sends a session modification request, and information included in the session modification request may coincide with information included in the notification message in S520.

It should be appreciated that if there may be other UEs in the group that are members of the group under UPF1, or if UPF1 also serves other group members, SMF1 carries the identification information of those group members in the request message.

It should also be understood that if there are other UPFs under the SMF1 that serve one or more group members, the SMF1 may also carry the tunnel information of the UPF and the identification information of the group member under the UPF in the above request message, or the SMF1 sends the request message once again and carries the tunnel information of the UPF and the identification information of the group member under the UPF. The remaining processes are similar to the operation process for UPF1 and will not be repeated later.

Alternatively, the tunnel information of the UPF1 may be pre-allocated by the SMF1 or UPF1 at S504, or may be allocated by the SMF1 or UPF1 after S512. For example, after the SMF1 receives the notification message from the group management network element, tunnel information of the UPF1 is allocated, and the tunnel information of the UPF1 is carried in the tunnel establishment request message of S513. For another example, the SMF1 sends a request message to the UPF1, where the request message is used to request the UPF1 to allocate tunnel information, the UPF1 allocates tunnel information according to the request of the SMF1, and sends the allocated tunnel information to the SMF1, and after the SMF1 receives the tunnel information sent by the UPF1, the tunnel establishment request message of S513 carries the tunnel information of the UPF 1.

Optionally, at S514, SMF1 sends a subscription message #c to SMF 2. Correspondingly, SMF2 receives a subscription message #c from SMF 1.

Illustratively, the subscription message #c includes identification information of the SMF1, where the identification information of the SMF1 may be a notification address of the SMF1, such as a notification URI. The subscription message #c is used for subscribing to a change notification of a UPF serving a group member corresponding to the SMF2 and/or a change notification of a group member corresponding to the SMF 2. That is, when a new UPF is accessed to the SMF2, or a certain UPF is logged out from the SMF2, or a UPF of a serving UE migrates, the SMF2 needs to send an update message to the SMF1, where the UPF is used to provide services for one or more group members; and/or when a new group member accesses to SMF2 or when a certain group member logs off from SMF2, SMF2 needs to send a notification message to SMF 1.

It should be understood that S513 and S514 may be separately performed or may be performed as one step, that is, the request message #1 of S513 and the subscription message #c of S514 may be two separate messages or may be combined into one message, which is not limited in this application.

In one implementation, the subscription message #c may correspond to the subscription message #2 in the method 400.

S515, SMF2 configures forwarding rule #1 for UPF 2.

Illustratively, after SMF2 receives the request message from SMF1, forwarding rule #1 is configured to UPF 2. For example, the SMF2 sends an N4 session modification/update request message to the UPF2, the session modification/update request message including tunnel information of the UPF1 and address information of the UE1, and a forwarding rule #1 is configured at the UPF2, the forwarding rule #1 including: and (3) packaging the data packet with the destination address of the address information of the UE1, and sending the N19 tunnel information of the UPF1 to the UPF1, or sending the data packet with the destination address of the UE1 to the UPF1 through an N19 tunnel between the UPF1 and the UPF 2.

S516, SMF2 sends a response message #1 to SMF 1. Correspondingly, SMF1 receives a response message #1 from SMF 2. After SMF2 receives the request message from SMF1, SMF2 determines whether to receive the request, if yes, SMF2 allocates a session identifier of SMF2, where the session identifier of SMF2 may be a context ID or a resource URI of SMF 2. And includes a session identification of the SMF2 in the response message #1, the subsequent SMF1 may transmit a session modification request message or an update message, etc., to the SMF2 based on the session identification of the SMF 2.

Illustratively, after the SMF2 configures the forwarding rule #1 to the UPF2, a response message #1 is sent to the SMF1, where the response message #1 includes tunnel information of the UPF2 and identification information of the UE2 (e.g., address information of the UE 2).

It should be understood that the tunnel information of the UPF2 may be pre-allocated by the SMF2 or UPF2 during the session establishment procedure, or may be allocated by the SMF2 or UPF2 after receiving the request message #1 from the SMF1 at S513. For example, after the SMF2 receives the request message #1, tunnel information of the UPF2 is allocated, and the response message #1 of S516 carries the tunnel information of the UPF 2. For another example, the SMF2 sends a tunnel information request message to the UPF2, where the tunnel information request message is used to request the UPF2 to allocate tunnel information, the UPF2 allocates tunnel information according to the request of the SMF2, and sends the allocated tunnel information to the SMF2, and after the SMF2 receives the tunnel information sent by the UPF2, the response message #1 of S516 carries the tunnel information of the UPF 2.

Optionally, S517, SMF2 sends a subscription message #d to SMF 1. Correspondingly, SMF1 receives a subscription message #d from SMF 2. This step can be described with reference to the correlation in S514.

Illustratively, the subscription message #d includes an identifier of the SMF2, and the subscription message #d is used for subscribing to a change notification of the UPF serving the group member corresponding to the SMF1, and/or a change notification of the group member corresponding to the SMF 1. That is, when a new UPF is connected to the SMF1, or when a certain UPF is disconnected from the SMF1, the SMF1 needs to send a notification message to the SMF2, where the UPF is used to provide services for one or more group members; and/or when a new group member accesses to SMF1 or when a certain group member logs off from SMF1, SMF1 needs to send a notification message to SMF 2.

It should be understood that S516 and S517 may be performed separately or as a single step, that is, the request message of S516 and the subscription message #3 of S517 may be two separate messages or may be combined into one message, which is not limited in this application.

In one implementation, the subscription message #d may correspond to the subscription message #4 in the method 400.

S518, SMF1 configures forwarding rule #2 to UPF 1.

Illustratively, after SMF1 receives the response message from SMF2, SMF1 configures forwarding rule #2 to UPF 1. For example, the SMF1 sends an N4 session modification/update request message to the UPF1, the N4 session modification/update request message including tunnel information of the UPF2 and address information of the UE2, and configures a forwarding rule #2 in the UPF1, the forwarding rule #2 including: and packaging the data packet with the destination address being the address information of the UE2, and sending the N19 tunnel information of the UPF2 to the UPF2.

In one implementation, the forwarding rule #2 may correspond to a first forwarding rule in method 400.

It should be understood that steps S512 to S518 may be performed before data is transmitted between UE1, UE2 and UE3, i.e. a tunnel is established in advance and forwarding rules are configured, and communication between subsequent UEs may be performed according to the established tunnel and forwarding rules. In another implementation, S512 to S518 are performed when the transmission data is detected, for example, UE1 sends a data packet to UE2, the data packet is first transmitted to UPF2, at this time, no forwarding rule is configured on UPF2, UPF2 sends a request to SMF2, SMF2 performs part of steps S512 to S518 or S512 to S518, establishes a tunnel between UPF1 and UPF2, and configures a forwarding rule. This way of temporarily creating tunnels and configuring rules introduces a large delay.

Based on the scheme, the communication between two UEs corresponding to different SMFs in the group can be realized, or the communication between the UEs in the group and the SMFs can be realized. Specifically, SMF1 may trigger creation of an N19 tunnel across SMF, and SMF1 and SMF2 configure forwarding policies to UPF1 and UPF2, respectively, so that 5G VN group communication between UE1 and UE2 across SMF may be created, thereby enabling UE1 and UE1 to implement cross SMF communication.

For example, fig. 6 illustrates a communication architecture diagram established according to method 500, in which fig. 6 illustrates a communication architecture in which SMF1 is a network element that serves a session for UE1, SMF2 is a network element that serves a session for UE2, and SMF1 and SMF2 are different network elements. SMF1 configures the following forwarding rules to UPF 1: packaging the N19 tunnel information of UPF2 into a data packet with the destination address being the address information of UE2 and sending the data packet to UPF2; SMF2 configures the following forwarding rules to UPF 2: and packaging the data packet with the destination address being the address information of the UE1, and sending the N19 tunnel information of the UPF1 to the UPF1. At this time, the data exchange path between UE1 and UE2 is: UE1-RAN1-UPF1-UPF2-RNA2-UE2.

Through the above scheme, a data exchange path between UE1 and UE2 can be established. The embodiment of the application can also support the update of the topology information of the group members. Next, in connection with example 1, a scheme of establishing a data exchange path between UE1 and UE3, and between UE2 and UE3 after the establishment of a session by UE3 in a group is described.

S519, the UE3 performs a session establishment procedure through the network device.

It should be understood that the procedure of performing session establishment by UE3 is similar to the session establishment procedure of UE1 (i.e. steps S501 to S506), and will not be described in detail.

In a first example, the session of UE3 is served by SMF2 and UPF2. In this case, SMF2 configures the following forwarding rules at UPF 2: transmitting a data packet with the destination address being the address information of the UE2 to the RAN2 through an N3 tunnel between the UPF2 and the RAN2; and sending the data packet with the destination address being the address information of the UE3 to the RAN3 through an N3 tunnel between the UPF2 and the RAN3. Wherein, RNA2 and RNA3 are RANs corresponding to UE2 and UE3, respectively.

Further, based on the subscription message #3 of S514, the SMF2 transmits a notification message #2 to the SMF1 at S520. The notification message #2 includes address information of the UE3 and tunnel information of the UPF2. Correspondingly, after the SMF1 receives the notification message #2 from the SMF2, at S521, the SMF1 configures a forwarding rule #3 to the UPF1, the forwarding rule #3 including: and (3) packaging the data packet with the destination address being the address information of the UE3, and sending the tunnel information of the UPF2 to the UPF2.

Or, SMF2 sends a session modification request to SMF1 based on the session between the stored and SMF1, where the request message includes address information of UE3 and tunnel information of UPF2, and correspondingly, S521 is the same as that described above after SMF1 receives the session modification request from SMF 2.

It should be appreciated that in such an example, if the session of UE3 is served by SMF1 and UPF3, in which case, SMF1 may send a session modification request to SMF2 based on the saved session with SMF2, the request message including address information of UE3 and tunnel information of UPF3. Alternatively, a notification message is sent to SMF2 according to the subscription message in step S410. Correspondingly, SMF2 receives a session modification request or notification message from SMF1, configures a forwarding rule #2 on UPF2, the forwarding rule #2 comprising: and packaging the tunnel information of UPF3 to send the data packet with the destination address being the address information of the UE3 to the UPF3. The UPF3 may be the same as UPF1 or different from UPF.

For example, fig. 7 shows a communication architecture diagram established according to the first example described above, in which architecture diagram shown in fig. 7, SMF1 is a network element that serves a session of UE1, SMF2 is a network element that serves sessions of UE2 and UE3, and SMF1 and SMF2 are different network elements. UPF2 serves UE2 and UE3.

The forwarding rule configured by SMF1 to UPF1 includes: packaging the N19 tunnel information of UPF2 to send to UPF2 by a data packet with the destination address of the address information of UE2 or UE3; SMF2 configures the following forwarding rules to UPF 2: packaging the data packet with the destination address being the address information of the UE1, and transmitting the N19 tunnel information of the UPF1 to the UPF1; transmitting a data packet with the destination address being the address information of the UE2 to the RAN2 through an N3 tunnel between the UPF2 and the RAN2; and sending the data packet with the destination address being the address information of the UE3 to the RAN3 through an N3 tunnel between the UPF2 and the RAN3. At this time, the data exchange path between UE1 and UE2 is: UE1-RAN1-UPF1-UPF2-RNA2-UE2; the data exchange path between UE1 and UE3 is: UE1-RAN1-UPF1-UPF2-RNA3-UE3; the data exchange path between UE2 and UE3 is: UE2-RAN2-UPF2-RAN3-UE3.

Therefore, through the scheme, after a new group member establishes a session, forwarding rules can be updated for the UPF of the UE with the established session, so that a data forwarding path between the group members is established, and communication between the group members is realized. That is, the solution of the embodiment of the present application supports updating of topology information of group members.

It should be understood that, for convenience, the flow chart of the method 500 in fig. 5 illustrates the case of the first example, but for the two subsequent examples, the method 500 in fig. 5 also supports network elements or steps not shown in the figures, which are referred to in the following text.

In a second example, the session of UE3 is served by SMF2 and UPF3 (not shown in the figure), where UPF3 is a different network element than UPF2, and UPF3 is managed by SMF 2. In this case, the SMF2 transmits the tunnel information of the UPF3 and the address information of the UE3 to the UPF2, and configures the following forwarding rules for the UPF 2: and sending the data packet with the destination address being the address information of the UE3 to the UPF3 through an N19 tunnel between the UPF2 and the UPF3. The SMF2 sends the tunnel information of the UPF2 and the address information of the UE2, and the tunnel information of the UPF1 and the address information of the UE1 to the UPF3, and configures the following forwarding rules for the UPF 3: transmitting a data packet with the destination address being the address information of the UE2 to the UPF2 through an N19 tunnel between the UPF2 and the UPF 3; and packaging the tunnel information of UPF1 to the UPF1 by using the data packet with the destination address being the address information of the UE 1.

Further, based on the subscription message #c of S514, at S520, the SMF1 transmits an update message #a to the SMF2, or the SMF2 transmits a session update request to the SMF1 according to the session identification of the SMF1, where the update message #a includes tunnel information of the UPF3 and address information of the UE 3. At S521, the SMF1 configures a forwarding rule #3 to the UPF1, where the forwarding rule #3 is used to send a packet with a destination address pointing to the UE3 to the UPF3, or the forwarding rule #3 is used to encapsulate a packet with a destination address of the UE3, and send tunnel information of the UPF3 to the UPF3.

In one implementation, the update message #a may correspond to the subscription message update message #2 in the method 400.

For example, fig. 8 shows a communication architecture established according to the second example described above, in which architecture shown in fig. 8, SMF1 is a network element that serves a session of UE1, and SMF2 is a network element that serves sessions of UE2 and UE 3.

The forwarding rule configured by SMF1 to UPF1 includes: packaging the N19 tunnel information of UPF2 into a data packet with the destination address being the address information of UE2 and sending the data packet to UPF2; and packaging the data packet with the destination address being the address information of the UE2, and sending the N19 tunnel information of the UPF3 to the UPF3. The forwarding rule configured by SMF2 to UPF2 comprises: packaging the data packet with the destination address being the address information of the UE1, and transmitting the N19 tunnel information of the UPF1 to the UPF1; and sending the data packet with the destination address being the address information of the UE3 to the UPF3 through an N19 tunnel between the UPF2 and the UPF3. The forwarding rule configured by SMF2 to UPF3 includes: packaging the data packet with the destination address being the address information of the UE1, and transmitting the N19 tunnel information of the UPF1 to the UPF1; and sending the data packet with the destination address being the address information of the UE2 to the UPF2 through an N19 tunnel between the UPF2 and the UPF3.

In a third example, the session of UE3 is served by SMF3 (not shown in the figure) and UPF3 (not shown in the figure), wherein SMF3 is a different network element than SMF1 and SMF2, and UPF3 is managed by SMF 3. In this case, after the UE3 establishes the session, both SMF1 and SMF2 may receive the identification information of SMF3 from the group management network element. In one implementation, based on the subscription message #a of S508 and the subscription message #b of S511, the group management network element sends notification messages to the SMF1 and the SMF2, respectively, where the notification messages include tunnel information of the UPF3 and address information of the UE 3. After the SMF1 and the SMF2 receive the identification information of the SMF3 from the group management network element, a session (or tunnel) establishment procedure may be initiated to the SMF3, respectively, and the specific procedure is similar to S512 to S518, and the description will not be repeated.

For example, fig. 9 shows a communication architecture established according to the third example described above, in the architecture shown in fig. 9, SMF1 is a network element that serves a session of UE1, SMF2 is a network element that serves a session of UE2, and SMF3 is a network element that serves a session of UE 3.

The forwarding rule configured by SMF1 to UPF1 includes: packaging the N19 tunnel information of UPF2 into a data packet with the destination address being the address information of UE2 and sending the data packet to UPF2; and packaging the data packet with the destination address being the address information of the UE3, and sending the N19 tunnel information of the UPF3 to the UPF3. The forwarding rule configured by SMF2 to UPF2 comprises: packaging the data packet with the destination address being the address information of the UE1, and transmitting the N19 tunnel information of the UPF1 to the UPF1; and packaging the data packet with the destination address being the address information of the UE3, and sending the N19 tunnel information of the UPF3 to the UPF3. The forwarding rule configured by SMF3 to UPF3 includes: packaging the data packet with the destination address being the address information of the UE1, and transmitting the N19 tunnel information of the UPF1 to the UPF1; and packaging the data packet with the destination address being the address information of the UE2, and sending the N19 tunnel information of the UPF2 to the UPF2.

In the following, in connection with example 2, a scheme of reestablishing a data exchange path between UE1 and UE2 in case of handover of UE1 to other UPF will be described.

S522, UE1 switches to UPF4.

For example, UE1 may be handed over from UPF1 to UPF4 due to movement or the like. Specific procedures the present application is not limited. It should be appreciated that in this embodiment, it is assumed that UPF4 is also managed by SMF 1.

S523, SMF1 sends an update message #b to SMF 2. Correspondingly, SMF2 receives update message #b from SMF 1.

Illustratively, based on the subscription message #4 of S517, the SMF1 transmits an update message #b to the SMF2, the update message #b including tunnel information of the UPF4 and address information of the UE 1. The update message #b is used to inform the UE3 that the switch to UPF4 is made.

The update message #b may be also referred to as a session update request message, a notification message, or the like, and is not limited in this application.

In one implementation, the update message #b may correspond to the update message #1 in the method 400.

The SMF1 also configures forwarding rule #2 to UPF4, and the specific procedure is similar to S518, and will not be repeated here.

S524, SMF2 configures forwarding rule #4 to SMF 1.

Illustratively, after receiving notification message #3 from SMF1, SMF2 configures forwarding rule #4 to UPF2 and deletes forwarding rule #1, or SMF2 updates forwarding rule #1 of UPF2 to forwarding rule #4. The forwarding rule #4 is used for sending a data packet with a destination address pointing to the UE1 to the UPF4, or the forwarding rule #4 is used for sending a data packet with the destination address being address information of the UE1, and tunnel information of the UPF4 is encapsulated and sent to the UPF4.

In one implementation, the forwarding rule #4 may correspond to a second forwarding rule in the method.

Therefore, through the scheme, when a certain UE in the group is subjected to UPF switching, forwarding rules can be updated on UPFs of other group members, so that a data forwarding path can be reestablished for the group members.

It should be understood that in some embodiments described above, some message names, such as request message, subscription message, registration request message, etc., are referred to, and it should be understood that the naming thereof does not limit the scope of protection of the embodiments of the present application, and that in different scenarios, these messages may also be referred to by other names.

It should also be understood that in some of the foregoing embodiments, the network elements in the existing network architecture are mainly exemplified (such as SMF, UPF, etc.), and it should be understood that the embodiments of the present application are not limited to specific forms of the network elements. For example, network elements that can achieve the same functionality in the future are suitable for use in the embodiments of the present application. Furthermore, any architecture that can deploy a service chain in the future is applicable to the embodiments of the present application.

It should also be appreciated that the specific examples of the methods 400 and 500 illustrated in the embodiments of the present application are merely to aid one skilled in the art in better understanding the embodiments of the present application and are not limiting of the aspects of the embodiments of the present application. For example, the flow in the embodiment is mainly described by taking communication among group members in the 5G VN group as an example, and it should be understood that this is not limited thereto. For example, in any other scenario, the schemes of embodiments of the present application may be used to establish communications between group members in a group.

It will be appreciated that in the foregoing embodiments of the methods and operations performed by a network device (e.g., each network element) may also be performed by components (e.g., chips or circuits) that may be used in the network device.

It should be further understood that the sequence numbers of the above processes do not mean the order of execution, and the order of execution of the processes should be determined by the functions and the internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

It is also to be understood that in the various embodiments of the application, terms and/or descriptions of the various embodiments are consistent and may be referenced to one another in the absence of a particular explanation or logic conflict, and that the features of the various embodiments may be combined to form new embodiments in accordance with their inherent logic relationships.

It should be noted that, in the foregoing, the "session" in the present application is taken as an example of a PDU session, the "terminal device" in the present application is taken as an example of a UE, the "session management network element" in the present application is taken as an example of an SMF, the "user plane network element" in the present application is taken as an example of a UPF, and each method is described.

The method for group communication provided in the embodiment of the present application is described in detail above with reference to fig. 4 and 5. The above-mentioned group communication method is mainly described from the point of interaction between the network elements. It will be appreciated that each network element, in order to implement the above-described functions, includes corresponding hardware structures and/or software modules that perform each function.

Those of skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as hardware or combinations of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is implemented as hardware or computer software driven hardware depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the solution. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

The following describes in detail the apparatus provided in the embodiments of the present application with reference to fig. 10 to 12. It should be understood that the descriptions of the apparatus embodiments and the descriptions of the method embodiments correspond to each other, and thus, descriptions of details not described may be referred to the above method embodiments, which are not repeated herein for brevity.

Fig. 10 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus 1000 provided by an embodiment of the present application. The apparatus 1000 comprises a transceiver unit 1010 and a processing unit 1020. The transceiver 1010 may implement a corresponding communication function, and the processing unit 1020 is configured to perform data processing. The transceiver unit 1010 may also be referred to as a communication interface or a communication unit.

Optionally, the apparatus 1000 may further include a storage unit 1030, where the storage unit 1030 may be configured to store instructions and/or data, and the processing unit 1020 may read the instructions and/or data in the storage unit 1030, so that the apparatus implements the foregoing method embodiments.

The apparatus 1000 may be configured to perform actions performed by a network device (e.g., each network element) in the above method embodiment, where the apparatus 1000 may be a network device or a component configurable in a network device, the transceiver unit 1010 is configured to perform operations related to transceiver on a network device side in the above method embodiment, and the processing unit 11020 is configured to perform operations related to processing on a network device side in the above method embodiment.

As a design, the apparatus 1000 is configured to perform the actions performed by the first session management network element in the method embodiment above.

A possible implementation manner, the transceiver unit 1010 is configured to receive identification information of a second session management network element from the group management network element; a processing unit 1020, configured to send, according to the identification information of the second session management network element, a request message #1 to the second session management network element through the transceiver unit 1010, where the request message #1 includes the identification information of the group, the tunnel information of the first user plane network element, and the identification information of the first terminal device; wherein the first user plane network element is a network element for providing services for the session of the first terminal device, and the first terminal device belongs to the group; a transceiver 1010, configured to receive a response message #1 from the second session management network element, where the response message #1 includes tunnel information of the second user plane network element and identification information of the second terminal device; wherein the second session management network element and the second user plane network element are network elements providing services for the session of the second terminal device, and the second terminal device also belongs to the group; the processing unit 1020 is further configured to configure a first forwarding rule at the first user plane network element according to the tunnel information of the second user plane network element and the identification information of the second terminal device, where the first forwarding rule is used to send a data packet with a destination address pointing to the second terminal device to the second user plane network element.

The apparatus 1000 may implement steps or flows corresponding to the execution of the first session management network element/SMF 1 in the method embodiment according to the present application, and the apparatus 1000 may include means for executing the method executed by the first session management network element/SMF 1 in the method embodiment. And, each unit in the apparatus 1000 and the other operations and/or functions described above are respectively for implementing the corresponding flow of the method embodiment in the first session management network element/SMF 1 in the method embodiment.

When the apparatus 1000 is used to perform the method 400 in fig. 4, the transceiver 1010 may be used to perform steps S401, S402, S404, S406, S408, S410 in the method 400. The processing unit 1010 may be used to perform steps S405, S411 in the method 400.

When the apparatus 1000 is used to perform the method 500 of fig. 5, the transceiving unit 1010 may be used to perform steps S505-S508, S512-S514, S516, S517, S520, S523 of the method 500; the processing unit 1020 may be configured to perform the processing steps in the method 500, such as steps S503, S504, S518, S521.

It should be understood that the specific process of each unit performing the corresponding steps has been described in detail in the above method embodiments, and is not described herein for brevity.

As another design, the apparatus 1000 is configured to perform the actions performed by the second session management network element/SMF 2 in the method embodiment above.

A possible implementation manner, the transceiver unit 1010 is configured to receive a request message #1 from a first session management network element, where the request message #1 includes identification information of a group, tunnel information of the first user plane network element, and identification information of a first terminal device; wherein the first session management network element is a network element providing services for the session of the first terminal device, and the first terminal device belongs to the group; a processing unit 1020, configured to allocate, according to the request message #1, a session identifier of the second session management network element, where the session identifier of the second session management network element is used to identify a context associated with the first session management network element on the second session management network element for the group; the transceiver 1010 is further configured to send a response message #1 to the first session management network element, where the response message #1 includes tunnel information of the second user plane network element, identification information of the second terminal device, and a session identifier of the second session management network element; wherein the second session management network element and the second user plane network element are network elements providing services for the session of the second terminal device, and the second terminal device also belongs to the group; the processing unit 1020 is further configured to configure a third forwarding rule at the second user plane network element according to the tunnel information of the first user plane network element and the identification information of the first terminal device, where the third forwarding rule is used to send the data packet with the destination address pointing to the first terminal device to the first user plane network element.

The apparatus 1000 may implement steps or flows corresponding to the second session management network element/SMF 2 execution in the method embodiment according to the present application, and the apparatus 1000 may include means for executing the method executed by the second session management network element/SMF 2 in the method embodiment. And, each unit in the apparatus 1000 and the other operations and/or functions described above are respectively for implementing the corresponding flow of the method embodiment in the second session management network element/SMF 2 in the method embodiment.

Wherein, when the apparatus 1000 is used to perform the method 400 in fig. 4, the transceiver 1010 may be used to perform steps S403, S404, S406, S408-S410 in the method 400; the processing unit 1020 may be configured to perform the processing steps in the method 400, as shown in step S407.

When the apparatus 1000 is used to perform the method 500 in fig. 5, the transceiving unit 1010 may be used to perform steps S510, S511, S513, S514, S516, S517, S520, S523 in the method 500; the processing unit 1020 may be configured to perform the processing steps in the method 500, as shown in steps S515 and S524.

As yet another design, the apparatus 1000 is configured to perform the actions performed by the group management network element in the above method embodiment.

A possible implementation manner, the transceiver unit 1010 is configured to receive a registration request message from a second session management network element, where the registration request message includes identification information of a group and identification information of the second session management network element; and sending the identification information of the second session management network element to the first session management network element, wherein the first session management network element and the second session management network element respectively provide services for the sessions of different terminal equipment belonging to the group.

Wherein, when the apparatus 1000 is used to perform the method 400 in fig. 4, the transceiver unit 1010 may be used to perform steps S401-S403 in the method 400.

When the apparatus 1000 is used to perform the method 500 of fig. 5, the transceiver unit 1010 may be used to perform steps S507, S508, S510-S512 of the method 500.

The processing unit 1020 in the above embodiments may be implemented by at least one processor or processor-related circuits. The transceiver unit 1010 may be implemented by a transceiver or transceiver related circuitry. The memory unit may be implemented by at least one memory.

As shown in fig. 11, the embodiment of the present application further provides an apparatus 1100. The apparatus 1100 includes a processor 1110.

Optionally, the apparatus 1100 includes one or more processors 1110.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 11, the apparatus 1100 may further include a memory 1120. The processor 1110 is coupled with a memory 1120, the memory 1120 for storing computer programs or instructions and/or data, and the processor 1110 for executing the computer programs or instructions and/or data stored by the memory 1120, such that the methods in the above method embodiments are performed.

Optionally, the apparatus 1100 may include one or more memories 1120.

Alternatively, the memory 1120 may be integrated with the processor 1110 or provided separately.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 11, the apparatus 1100 may further include a transceiver 930, where the transceiver 930 is configured to receive and/or transmit signals. For example, the processor 1110 is configured to control the transceiver 930 to receive and/or transmit signals.

Alternatively, the apparatus 1100 is configured to implement the operations performed by a network device (e.g., the network elements described above) in the above method embodiment.

The embodiment of the application also provides a device 1200, where the device 1200 may be a network device or a chip. The apparatus 1200 may be configured to perform operations performed by a network device (e.g., the various network elements described above) in the method embodiments described above.

Fig. 12 shows a simplified structural schematic. The apparatus 1200 includes a 1210 portion and a 1220 portion. 1210. The part is mainly used for receiving and transmitting radio frequency signals and converting the radio frequency signals and baseband signals; 1220 is mainly used for baseband processing, control of the base station, etc. Portion 1210 may be referred to generally as a transceiver unit, transceiver circuitry, or transceiver, etc. Portion 1220 is typically a control center of the base station, and may be generally referred to as a processing unit, and is configured to control the base station to perform the processing operation on the receiving device side in the foregoing method embodiment.

The transceiver unit of section 1210, which may also be referred to as a transceiver or transceiver, includes an antenna and radio frequency circuitry, wherein the radio frequency circuitry is primarily configured to perform radio frequency processing. Alternatively, the device for implementing the receiving function in the portion 1210 may be regarded as a receiving unit, and the device for implementing the transmitting function may be regarded as a transmitting unit, that is, the portion 1210 includes the receiving unit and the transmitting unit. The receiving unit may also be referred to as a receiver, or a receiving circuit, etc., and the transmitting unit may be referred to as a transmitter, or a transmitting circuit, etc.

Portion 1220 may include one or more boards, each of which may include one or more processors and one or more memories. The processor is used for reading and executing the program in the memory to realize the baseband processing function and control of the base station. If there are multiple boards, the boards can be interconnected to enhance processing power. As an alternative implementation manner, the multiple boards may share one or more processors, or the multiple boards may share one or more memories, or the multiple boards may share one or more processors at the same time.

It should be understood that fig. 12 is only an example and not a limitation, and the above-described network device including the transceiving unit and the processing unit may not depend on the structure shown in fig. 12.

When the apparatus 1200 is a chip, the chip includes a transceiver unit and a processing unit. The receiving and transmitting unit can be an input and output circuit and a communication interface; the processing unit is an integrated processor or microprocessor or integrated circuit on the chip. Of course, the apparatus 1200 may also be a system-on-a-chip or a processing system, so that a device in which the apparatus 1200 is installed may implement the methods and functions of the embodiments of the present application. For example, the processing unit 1220 may be a chip system or a processing circuit in the processing system, to control a device on which the chip system or the processing system is installed, and may also be coupled to a link storage unit, to invoke an instruction in the storage unit, so that the device may implement the method and the function of the embodiment of the present application, and the transceiver unit 1210 may be an input/output circuit in the chip system or the processing system, to output information processed by the chip system, or to input data or signaling information to be processed into the chip system for processing.

Embodiments of the present application also provide a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer instructions for implementing the method performed by a network device (e.g., each network element) in the above method embodiments.

For example, the computer program, when executed by a computer, enables the computer to implement the method performed by the network device in the method embodiments described above.

Embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program product containing instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to implement a method performed by a network device (e.g., each network element) in the above method embodiments.

The present application also provides a communication system including the network device (e.g., each network element) in the above embodiment, such as one or more of SMF1, SMF2, UPF1, and UPF2 group management network elements.

The explanation and beneficial effects of the related content in any of the above-mentioned devices can refer to the corresponding method embodiments provided above, and are not repeated here.

It should be appreciated that the processors referred to in the embodiments of the present application may be central processing units (central processing unit, CPU), but may also be other general purpose processors, digital signal processors (digital signal processor, DSP), application specific integrated circuits (application specific integrated circuit, ASIC), off-the-shelf programmable gate arrays (field programmable gate array, FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, or the like. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like.

It should also be understood that the memories mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be volatile memories and/or nonvolatile memories. The nonvolatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), an electrically Erasable EPROM (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be random access memory (random access memory, RAM). For example, RAM may be used as an external cache. By way of example, and not limitation, RAM may include the following forms: static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), synchronous DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct memory bus RAM (DR RAM).

It should be noted that when the processor is a general purpose processor, DSP, ASIC, FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, discrete hardware components, the memory (storage module) may be integrated into the processor.

It should also be noted that the memory described herein is intended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the elements and steps of the examples described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented as electronic hardware, or as a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the solution. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus and method may be implemented in other ways. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative, e.g., the division of the units is merely a logical function division, and there may be additional divisions when actually implemented, e.g., multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted or not performed. Furthermore, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed with each other may be through some interface, device or unit indirect coupling or communication connection, which may be in electrical, mechanical or other form.

The units described as separate units may or may not be physically separate, and units shown as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to implement the solution provided in the present application.

In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated in one unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units may be integrated in one unit.

In the above embodiments, it may be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When loaded and executed on a computer, produces a flow or function in accordance with embodiments of the present application, in whole or in part. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable apparatus. For example, the computer may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc. The computer instructions may be stored in or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another, for example, by wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital Subscriber Line (DSL)), or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. that contains an integration of one or more available media. For example, the aforementioned usable medium may include, but is not limited to, a U disk, a removable hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (random access memory, RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk, etc. various media that can store program codes.

The foregoing is merely specific embodiments of the present application, but the scope of the present application is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily think about changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present application, and the changes and substitutions are intended to be covered by the scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method of group communication, comprising:

the first session management network element receives identification information of a second session management network element from the group management network element; wherein the first session management network element and the second session management network element respectively provide services for sessions of different terminal devices belonging to the same group;

the first session management network element sends a request message #1 to the second session management network element according to the identification information of the second session management network element, wherein the request message #1 comprises the identification information of the group, the tunnel information of the first user plane network element and the identification information of the first terminal equipment; wherein the first session management network element and the first user plane network element are network elements providing services for the session of the first terminal device, and the first terminal device belongs to the group;

The first session management network element receives a response message #1 from the second session management network element, wherein the response message #1 comprises tunnel information of the second user plane network element and identification information of the second terminal equipment; wherein the second session management network element and the second user plane network element are network elements providing services for the session of the second terminal device, and the second terminal device also belongs to the group;

the first session management network element configures a first forwarding rule at the first user plane network element according to the tunnel information of the second user plane network element and the identification information of the second terminal device, wherein the first forwarding rule is used for sending a data packet with a destination address pointing to the second terminal device to the second user plane network element.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first session management network element receives identification information of a second session management network element from a group management network element, comprising:

the first session management network element receives a notification message from the group management network element, the notification message including identification information of the second session management network element and identification information of the group.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the method further comprises:

The first session management network element sends a subscription message #1 to the group management network element, wherein the subscription message #1 includes identification information of the group, and the subscription message #1 is used for subscribing to change notification of group information of the group.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first session management network element receives identification information of a second session management network element from a group management network element, comprising:

the first session management network element sends a request message #2 for searching for the session management network element serving the group to the group management network element, wherein the request message #2 comprises identification information of the group;

the first session management network element receives a response message #2 from the group management network element, the response message #2 comprising identification information of the second session management network element.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first session management network element receives identification information of a second session management network element from a group management network element, comprising:

the first session management network element sends a request message #3 for searching for a session management network element serving a second terminal device in the group to the group management network element, wherein the request message #3 comprises identification information of the group and identification information of the second terminal device;

The first session management network element receives a response message #3 from the group management network element, the response message #3 comprising identification information of the second session management network element.

6. The method according to any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the response message #1 further comprises a session identification of the second session management network element; the session identifier of the second session management network element is used for identifying a context associated with the first session management network element on the second session management network element for the group;

the method further comprises the steps of:

the first session management network element receives a session establishment request message for the group from a third terminal device; wherein the third terminal device belongs to the group;

responding to the session establishment request message, the first session management network element distributes a third user plane network element for the session of the third terminal equipment;

the first session management network element sends an update message #1 to the second session management network element according to the session identifier of the second session management network element, wherein the update message #1 comprises the session identifier of the second session management network element, the tunnel information of the third user plane network element and the identifier information of the third terminal device.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising:

the first session management network element receives an update message #2 from the second session management network element, wherein the update message #2 comprises tunnel information of a fourth user plane network element and identification information of fourth terminal equipment; wherein the second session management network element and the fourth user plane network element are network elements providing services for the session of the fourth terminal device, and the fourth terminal device belongs to the group;

and the first session management network element configures a second forwarding rule at the first user plane network element according to the tunnel information of the fourth user plane network element and the identification information of the fourth terminal device, wherein the second forwarding rule is used for sending a data packet with a destination address pointing to the fourth terminal device to the fourth user plane network element.

8. The method according to any of claims 1 to 7, wherein before the first session management network element sends the request message #1 to the second session management network element, the method further comprises:

the first session management network element determines that there is no context associated with the second session management network element for the group on the first session management network element.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the method further comprises:

the first session management network element distributes a session identifier of the first session management network element for the group, wherein the session identifier of the first session management network element is used for identifying a context associated with the second session management network element on the first session management network element and aiming at the group;

wherein the request message #1 further includes a session identifier of the first session management network element.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, further comprising:

the first session management network element sends a registration request message to the group management network element, wherein the registration request message comprises identification information of the group and identification information of the first session management network element.

11. A method of group communication, comprising:

the second session management network element receives a request message #1 from the first session management network element, wherein the request message #1 comprises identification information of a group, tunnel information of the first user plane network element and identification information of first terminal equipment; wherein the first session management network element and the first user plane network element are network elements providing services for the session of the first terminal device, and the first terminal device belongs to the group;

The second session management network element allocates a session identifier of the second session management network element according to the request message #1, where the session identifier of the second session management network element is used to identify a context associated with the first session management network element on the second session management network element and directed to the group;

the second session management network element sends a response message #1 to the first session management network element, wherein the response message #1 comprises tunnel information of a second user plane network element, identification information of a second terminal device and session identification of the second session management network element; wherein the second session management network element and the second user plane network element are network elements providing services for the session of the second terminal device, and the second terminal device also belongs to the group;

the second session management network element configures a third forwarding rule at the second user plane network element according to the tunnel information of the first user plane network element and the identification information of the first terminal device, and the third forwarding rule is used for sending a data packet with a destination address pointing to the first terminal device to the first user plane network element.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the request message #1 further comprises a session identification of a first session management network element, wherein the session identification of the first session management network element is used to identify a context for the group associated with the second session management network element on the first session management network element, the method further comprising:

The second session management network element stores the session identifier of the first session management network element, the group identifier information, the tunnel information of the first user plane network element, and the identifier information of the first terminal device in the context associated with the first session management network element and specific to the group.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the method further comprises:

the second session management network element receives an update message #1 from the first session management network element, wherein the update message #1 comprises a session identifier of the second session management network element, tunnel information of a third user plane network element and identifier information of a third terminal device; wherein the first session management network element and the third user plane network element are network elements providing services for the session of the third terminal device, and the third terminal device belongs to the group; the second session management network element configures a fourth forwarding rule at the second user plane network element according to the tunnel information of the third user plane network element and the identification information of the third terminal device, where the fourth forwarding rule is used to send a data packet with a destination address pointing to the third terminal device to the third user plane network element.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the method further comprises:

and the second session management network element adds the tunnel information of the third user plane network element and the identification information of the third terminal equipment into the context which is associated with the first session management network element and is specific to the group according to the session identification of the second session management network element.

15. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 14, further comprising:

the second session management network element receives a session establishment request message for the group from the fourth terminal device; wherein the fourth terminal device belongs to the group;

responding to the session establishment request message, the second session management network element distributes a fourth user plane network element for the session of the fourth terminal equipment;

the second session management network element obtains a session identifier of the first session management network element in the context associated with the first session management network element for the group;

the second session management network element sends an update message #2 to the first session management network element according to the session identifier of the first session management network element, wherein the update message #2 comprises the tunnel information of the fourth user plane network element, the identifier information of the fourth terminal device and the session identifier of the first session management network element.

16. A method of group communication, comprising:

the group management network element receives a registration request message from a second session management network element, wherein the registration request message comprises identification information of a group and identification information of the second session management network element;

the group management network element sends the identification information of the second session management network element to the first session management network element, and the first session management network element and the second session management network element respectively provide services for sessions belonging to different terminal devices of the group.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the method further comprises:

the method comprises the steps that a group management network element receives a subscription message #1 from a first session management network element, wherein the subscription message #1 comprises an identification of a group, and the subscription message #1 is used for subscribing a change notification of group information of the group;

the group management network element sending identification information of the second session management network element to the first session management network element, including:

the group management network element sends a notification message to the first session management network element based on the subscription message #1, wherein the notification message comprises identification information of the second session management network element.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the group management network element sending the identification information of the second session management network element to the first session management network element comprises:

the group management network element receives a request message #2 from the first session management network element for searching for a session management network element serving the group, wherein the request message #2 comprises identification information of the group;

the group management network element determines the identification information of the second session management network element according to the identification information of the group;

the group management network element sends a response message #2 to the first session management network element, wherein the response message #2 comprises identification information of the second session management network element.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the group management network element sending the identification information of the second session management network element to the first session management network element comprises:

the group management network element receives a request message #3 from the first session management network element, wherein the request message #3 is used for searching for a session management network element serving a second terminal device in the group, and the request message #3 comprises identification information of the group and identification information of the second terminal device;

The group management network element determines the identification information of the second session management network element according to the identification information of the group and the identification information of the second terminal equipment;

the group management network element sends a response message #3 to the first session management network element, wherein the response message #3 comprises identification information of the second session management network element.

20. The method according to any one of claims 16 to 19, further comprising:

the group management network element stores the association relation between the identification information of the second session management network element and the identification information of the group.

21. A communication system includes a first session management network element and a second session management network element,

the first session management network element is configured to receive identification information of the second session management network element from the group management network element; according to the identification information of the second session management network element, a request message #1 is sent to the second session management network element, wherein the request message #1 comprises the identification information of the group, the tunnel information of the first user plane network element and the identification information of the first terminal equipment; wherein the first session management network element and the first user plane network element are network elements providing services for the session of the first terminal device, and the first terminal device belongs to the group;

The second session management network element is configured to receive the request message #1 from the first session management network element; transmitting a response message #1 to the first session management network element, wherein the response message #1 comprises tunnel information of a second user plane network element and identification information of a second terminal device; wherein the second session management network element and the second user plane network element are network elements providing services for the session of the second terminal device, and the second terminal device also belongs to the group; configuring a third forwarding rule at the second user plane network element according to the tunnel information of the first user plane network element and the identification information of the first terminal device, wherein the third forwarding rule is used for sending a data packet with a destination address pointing to the first terminal device to the first user plane network element;

the first session management network element is further configured to receive the response message #1 from the second session management network element; and configuring a first forwarding rule in the first user plane network element according to the tunnel information of the second user plane network element and the identification information of the second terminal equipment, wherein the first forwarding rule is used for sending a data packet with a destination address pointing to the second terminal equipment to the second user plane network element.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the second session management network element is further configured to allocate a session identifier of the second session management network element, the session identifier of the second session management network element being configured to identify a context for the group associated with the first session management network element on the second session management network element;

wherein the response message #1 includes a session identifier of the second session management network element.

23. The method according to claim 22, wherein the first session management network element is further configured to receive a session establishment request message for the group from a third terminal device; wherein the third terminal device belongs to the group; responding to the session establishment request message, and distributing a third user plane network element for the session of the third terminal equipment; according to the session identifier of the second session management network element, an update message #1 is sent to the second session management network element, wherein the update message #1 comprises the session identifier of the second session management network element, the tunnel information of the third user plane network element and the identifier information of the third terminal device;

The second session management network element is further configured to receive an update message #1 from the first session management network element; and according to the session identifier of the second session management network element, the tunnel information of the third user plane network element and the identifier information of the third terminal equipment, configuring a fourth forwarding rule on the second user plane network element, wherein the fourth forwarding rule is used for sending a data packet with a destination address pointing to the third terminal equipment to the third user plane network element.

24. The method according to any of claims 21 to 23, wherein the first session management network element is further adapted to determine that no context associated with the second session management network element for the group exists on the first session management network element.

25. An apparatus for group communication, the apparatus comprising: a module for performing the method of any one of claims 1 to 10, or a module for performing the method of any one of claims 11 to 15, or a module for performing the method of any one of claims 16 to 20.

26. An apparatus for group communication, comprising:

A processor for executing a computer program stored in a memory to cause the apparatus to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 10 or to cause the apparatus to perform the method of any one of claims 11 to 15 or to cause the apparatus to perform the method of any one of claims 16 to 20.

27. A computer program product comprising instructions for performing the method of any one of claims 1 to 10 or for performing the method of any one of claims 11 to 15, the computer program product comprising instructions for performing the method of any one of claims 16 to 20.